Nobody tells you this at the start of a technical writing career.

Most of the job isn’t writing.

It’s getting 20 minutes from someone who doesn’t have 20 minutes.

You’ve drafted the procedure, you’ve mapped the process, you’ve done the hard part.

Then it sits with a subject matter expert who’s mid audit, mid outage, mid everything.

3 follow up emails later, still nothing.

What helps here isn’t a better reminder.

It’s treating the whole thing as a negotiation, which is really what it is.

You want something from someone who has every reason to deprioritise you.

🗣️ Say the awkward thing before they think it

There’s a moment before every review request where the SME is silently making a case against you.

This is another project asking for the same information.

The last writer took 2 hours of my time, then got it wrong anyway.

This document probably won’t be used.

Naming that out loud, early, takes most of the sting out of it.

Try opening with something like this.

• “You’ve probably been asked for this 3 times already this year”
• “I know this looks like a big document, so I’ll only need you on part of it”
• “This might feel like a low priority next to the outage work”

It feels counterintuitive, saying the objection for them.

It works because the objection loses power once it’s in the open.

They no longer have to defend a position you’ve already accepted as reasonable.

More often than not, the reply comes back warmer than expected.

🤔 Ask “how” instead of asking for a yes

Closed questions get closed answers.

“Can you review this by Friday?” invites a yes, a no, or more likely, silence.

The better move is asking a question they have to think about, one that hands them a bit of control.

A few that consistently work.

• “How would you like me to get this in front of you?”
• “How much of this actually needs your eyes?”
• “How should I handle the exceptions your team deals with?”
• “How do I make this easy for you?”

That last one does a lot of quiet work.

You’ve made yourself the person solving their problem rather than adding to it.

The answers are usually practical too.

Some SMEs want a 15 minute call, some want tracked changes, some want you to sit next to them for 10 minutes while they talk.

You’d never find that out by asking whether they can review it by Friday.

🙅 Give them something safe to say no to

People protect their time by saying no.

So build a no into the request, then let them use it.

Instead of chasing agreement, ask questions where refusing is the easy answer.

• “Is it a bad time to be asking about this?”
• “Have you given up on this document?”
• “Would it be a problem if I published the current draft as is?”

That third one is the workhorse.

Saying no to a bad draft going live feels safe, low effort, almost automatic.

It also usually comes with the correction attached, which is exactly what you needed.

There’s a version of this that respects everyone’s time properly.

Tell them plainly that if you don’t hear back by Thursday, you’ll publish what you have as a draft, then revise later.

You’re not threatening anyone.

You’re removing the guilt, giving them an easy exit, quietly making it clear the document is moving either way.

🧭 Choosing between a walkthrough or 1 on 1 sessions

The same thinking applies to how you gather information in the first place.

Group walkthroughs suit certain moments.

• When several teams need to see the whole flow
• When a decision needs making with everyone present
• When you’re near final, needing confirmation rather than detail

Individual sessions suit other moments.

• When you need the workarounds nobody writes down
• When a senior person in the room would keep others quiet
• When 2 teams quietly do the same thing differently
• When your SME can spare 15 minutes, not 90

Most projects want both, in that order.

Get the honest version 1 on 1, then use a walkthrough to lock it in publicly.

Public agreement is much harder to walk back later.

📄 Make the ask small, make it visible

None of the above helps if the document itself looks like a 2 hour job.

So shrink the ask before you send it.

• Highlight only the sections needing their input
• Say up front it should take about 10 minutes
• Number the paragraphs so comments can point somewhere specific
• Send 1 document at a time
• Include your best guess, so they’re correcting rather than creating

Never ask an SME to write content.

Writing is your job.

Their job is telling you where you’re wrong.

🤝 Keep the door open

Once it’s signed off, close the loop properly.

Send them the published link, tell them what changed because of their input, thank them somewhere their manager can see.

Small things, but they compound.

The next time you need 20 minutes, you’re not a stranger with an attachment.

You’re the person who made their team look organised, then gave them the credit for it.

That’s a much easier email to answer.