by Lynne Testoni
26 February 2025
I’ve worked as an editor at various publications over the years, commissioning a huge variety of writers – and if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that following a story brief is a crucial (and often overlooked) skill for writers.
I clearly remember one instance at InsideOut magazine when I commissioned a very good and experienced writer to do a particular ‘house’ story that had a distinct format, separated into sections with about 200 words on each section. The story brief was clear and detailed the word counts and direction and she ignored it all, turning in a lovely house story that I had to completely rework into the required format.
And guess what? I never commissioned her again. In hindsight I should have provided feedback and asked her to rework it, but the copy was also late and I didn’t have the time. Frankly, it was all too hard and the deadline was on top of me.
Because, while that securing high-paying and regular journalism and content marketing work can seem daunting to a new freelancer, it doesn’t have to be that hard. Good writing is always important, but most successful freelancers only need to do two things – follow the brief and submit on time – and you are more than 80 per cent ahead of most other writers.
In her appearance on our podcast, The Content Byte, long-time freelancer Sue Williams says she has been on both sides of the fence – as freelance writer and commissioning editor and she is always surprised how many people didn’t follow the briefs she sent out.
“I ran a magazine at one time, and I commissioned friends who were journalists to write stories,” she explains. “ I was amazed how many people never kept to the brief and wrote stories which were completely different to the brief that I’ve written them.”
“If you can make the job easier for editors – and they’re all so busy now, and have far fewer staff than they used to – then I think they’re going to come back to you again and again,” she says.
The answer is very closely. Managing Editor of SBS Food Online, Sudeshna Ghosh agrees with Sue that following the story brief and filing on time are the baseline expectations she has when she commissions a writer.
“I will say, though, that briefs can come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes,” she says, “so sometimes that can be quite challenging from the writer’s perspective.”
“I tend to be really prescriptive with my briefs, which means you are really clear about expectations. I think going off-piste is a guaranteed way to not deliver and you’re probably not going to get return commissions.”
Editor of Bite magazine and another long-time freelancer, John Burfitt, says from his years of commissioning writers, the consistent issue he has dealt with is when writers don’t look closely enough at the details of the brief to note what the exact angle of the story is about. These details might include the specifics of the angle, expert sources required, possible keywords, and mentions of key products and advertisers.
Not including these elements might mean that the copy is rejected or sent back for a rewrite.
“It’s really frustrating, because the writer might think, well, hold on, I’ve done the job,” he says. “But I then ask if they read the details of what was in the brief? Sometimes people see the headline and jump to the conclusion without reading the details.”
John uses the example of a financial website that might run a story every year about getting tax in order for June 30.
“However they need to be doing something different about it this time, which is why a brief might have a very specific angle. It needs to be approached with that really sharp detail, otherwise you haven’t done the job, and I could have rerun the piece we ran last year. This commission was trying to add value by offering something different.”
Sudeshna says that her briefs are very clear about who the audience is and the tone the writer needs to take, so it is important to read it thoroughly.
“I use a particular format for briefing that I’ve used for a long time, which includes all the elements, I want,” she explains. “So, it includes formatting, brand, tone of voice, as well as what the actual content is. I do this for the sake of efficiency, really, because I believe any creative project, or any project, for that matter, starts with a good tight brief.”
“If you are clear about expectations from the outset, then confusion and miscommunication is reduced. I think as an editor, what I really want is clean, on-point copy that needs only light-touch work to get it over the line.”
She adds that she is always open to working with younger writers, putting in the time to work with them where required to refine copy and, on occasion, will keep some briefs intentionally a bit looser, to allow a writer to flex their creative muscle a bit more.
As with many things, communication is the key with freelance briefs. It’s good practice to read briefs immediately (and not waiting until you start writing the story). This is when you can check things such as the expert interviews you will need to line up, or research you need to undertake.
It is also the right time to clarify any ambiguity in the story brief. Good editors always appreciate questions from freelancers at the time of briefing, says John Burfitt.
“If you are a new writer or you’re dealing with new editor, and read the commission note or the brief outline and you don’t understand it all, ask questions,” he says. “Go back and say, I just wanted to clarify these two points.”
One way to do that is a reverse brief – summarising your understanding of the story and emailing it back to the editor for confirmation.
“You can ask, is that what you want?” says John. “Or, ‘I was thinking about A and B as two of my sources – am I on the right track?’ I had this with a writer last month, and I said, ‘thank you for checking in, but that’s not our style’. When that particular writer’s copy came in, it was beautiful. It was great because she was smart enough to ask three or four questions at the time. I’ll use her again.”
Got a story brief story (good or bad) to share? We’d love to hear from you in the comments. And, if you’re in the business of briefing freelancers, don’t forget to check out our briefing templates in the Toolkit.
