Writing for Beginners

The beginner’s mind is eager to learn and open to possibilities. That’s the sort of approach we need as designers: a playful, messy, and curious one. So let’s talk about writing as a practice and a way forward—as something beginners do. We’ll explore how writing and design relate to each other, work through the difficulties of communicating, and find new places to begin.

Full transcript: http://nicolefenton.com/build-2013

Build, Belfast

Transcript

1. Writing
   for Beginners Nicole Fenton @nicoleslaw
3. Beginner’s mind
5. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.
   Shunryu Suzuki
7. Perpetual beginner
8. • author • business owner • wife • home cook • surfer • speaker
9. The difficulty of words
10. http://toothpastefordinner.com
11. Myths
16. • Know what you mean to say. • Have a plan, thesis, or outline. • Don’t wander or ramble. • Be tortured or addicted to something. • Be inspired by a muse.
17. • Know what you mean to say. • Have a plan, thesis, or outline. • Don’t wander or ramble. • Be tortured or addicted to something. • Be inspired by a muse.
18. A place of knowing
19. A place of knowing not
20. Build understanding
21. Writing is design
22. • critical thinking • communicating • planning • organizing • dealing with ambiguity
23. • inform different audiences • solve or reduce problems • create lasting work • make the world a better place
24. • ask questions • balance goals and constraints • learn about different people • shape systems • gather feedback • build on what we know
25. • listen • plan • compose • revise
26. Copy is interface
27. Danger,
    lorem ipsum!
28. • alerts • articles • emails • errors • forms • instructions • labels • marketing • names • policies • strings • tours
29. To communicate
31. Language accelerates learning and creation by permitting communication and coordination... Kevin Kelly
32. A new idea can be spread quickly if someone can explain it and communicate it to others before they have to discover it themselves... Kevin Kelly
33. Language is a trick that allows the mind to question itself; a magic mirror that reveals to the mind what the mind thinks; a handle that turns a mind into a tool. Kevin Kelly
34. • technology
35. • techne
36. Every technology—no matter its origin—can be channeled toward more transparency, greater collaboration,
    increased flexibility, and greater openness. Kevin Kelly
37. Where to begin?
38. • think like a designer • go places you’ve never been • start in the middle • write the way you do
39. Think like a designer
40. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ddimick/8948795874
41. http://flickr.com/photos/ddimick/8948175181
43. Go places
    you’ve never been
45. Start in the middle
49. • Design the words so they can change as your mind does. • Use simple layered chunks that are easy to move around.
50. Write the way
    you do
51. Part of the struggle in learning to write is learning to ignore what isn’t useful to you and pay attention to what is. Verlyn Klinkenborg
53. Oof.
56. • read books and edited text •✍✍✍✍✍ • find beta readers • be kind to each other • there is no secret
57. Thank you. Nicole Fenton @nicoleslaw