“A‐Z of Medical Writing”

Citation

Earl‐Slater, A. (2001), "“A‐Z of Medical Writing”", British Journal of Clinical Governance, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 286-287. https://doi.org/10.1108/bjcg.2001.6.4.286.2

This is a wonderful little book. Everyone who wants to or needs to improve their writing will benefit from using it. In my experience, the book is novel and quite rare in that it has become a trusted and sometimes amusing little companion.

Want some inspiration? Use this book. Want some clarification? Use this book. Want to write better than you have ever done before? Use this book. Don’t have the time to write well? Use this book. Want to give someone a friendly bit of help in their writing? Give them this book.

Some examples of entries in the book are:

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  “Audience” (Who are you writing for?);

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  “Authorship” (Who really made a significant contribution to the writing?);

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  “Data junkies”;

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  “Heartsink writers”;

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  “Long sentences”;

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  “More research is indicated”;

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  “Press releases” (Why do so many fail to make an impact?);

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  “Salami publication”;

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  “Writers support groups”;

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  “Writing goals”.

Each term is useful in its own right, having its own definition or explanation and sometimes an example. Many of the terms are also cross‐referenced with Tim’s inestimable wit and wisdom. For example, Tim’s entry for “fish and chip wrappers” is cross‐referenced to the entry on “law of late literals”.

If the truth is told, it is that insufficient attention is given to developing good quality writing. In fact good quality writing is not taught well in places such as medical schools, Trusts or health authorities, if it is taught at all. And there are very few writing courses that we can go on without feeling apprehensive and embarrassed about our writing skills, or the lack of them!Suppose tomorrow morning you tell your boss you want to go on a writing course, you give the boss your reasons and the course details. Imagine what your boss will say. On second thoughts, don’t imagine what your boss will say!

Yet we are increasingly being asked to write more and more in shorter and shorter periods of time. And we are often judged on our writing prowess rather than anything else. For example we may have to write case reports on a daily basis, project papers and progress reports on a monthly basis, notes for presentations maybe quarterly and research applications a couple of times a year. Then above all that we have to read and probably re‐read what other people have written.

I am in no doubt that some of you can write pretty well, quickly engaging your audience, getting your messages across using a minimum number of intelligible words, all neatly strung together. If however you are frank about it, you can easily write better, and in some cases considerably better.

If you want to improve your writing and wish to begin to enjoy the art of writing well, then my advice is simple: you can start today, yes, today, by writing out a cheque and buying this handy little book.

I for one have happily bought all my team their own copy of this book. They are really quite pleased and wished they had had access to it earlier in their careers. So do I.