How to Write for the Web

Talk given by Chris Stuart

Transcript

1. Chris Stuart writer/editor campus web office
2. Writing is a dangerous and and precarious thing.
3. Well, no…but…
5. I’m not the...
6. …but I can help with content
7. The Five C’s of Communicating • Clear • Concise • Correct • Consistent • Compelling
8. Be Clear
9. Be Clear • Put important stuff first
10. Be Clear • Put important stuff first • Chunk information
11. Be Clear A conclusion was reached after the students performed the experiment that the indication of the results were that the substance exhibited clarity, was wet to the touch, fluid, necessary to sustain life, and that the term water was deemed to be the most essential information derived from the process.
12. Be Clear The students found that water was • Clear • Liquid • Essential
13. Be Clear • Put important stuff first • Chunk information • Put the action in verbs, not nouns
14. Be Clear The proliferation of nominalizations in a discursive formation may be an indication of a tendency towards pomposity and abstraction.
15. Be Clear Writers who overuse nominalizations sound pompous.
16. Be Concise
17. Be Concise • Omit needless words
18. Be Concise • Omit needless words • Write to be read
19. Be Concise • Omit needless words • Write to be read • Keep sentences and paragraphs short
20. Be Concise Many have made the wise observation that when a stone is in motion rolling down a hill or incline that that moving stone is not as likely to be covered all over with the kind of thick green moss that grows on stationary unmoving things and becomes a nuisance and suggests that those things haven’t moved in a long time and probably won’t move any time soon.
21. Be Concise A rolling stone gathers no moss.
22. Be Correct
23. Be Correct • Check facts
24. Be Correct • Check facts • Keep content current
25. Be Consistent
26. Be Consistent • Check the style guide
27. Be Compelling • Don’t be cute • Satisfy the hunters
28. Be Consistent • Check the style guide • Maintain a voice
29. Be Consistent • Check the style guide • Maintain a voice • Practice good writing/editing habits
30. Be Compelling
31. Be Compelling • Don’t be cute
32. Be Compelling • Don’t be cute • Satisfy the hunters
33. Be Compelling • Don’t be cute • Satisfy the hunters • Use Photos
34. Photos • Inform
35. Photos • Inform • Engage
36. Photos • Inform • Engage • Energize
37. Other Resources • Letting Go of the Words by Ginny Redish • Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug • Garner’s Modern American Usage, 3rd ed. • http://webstyleguide.com/ • https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ • http://APstylebook.com
38. The Campus Web Office is here to help with your content.
39. Thank you! Chris Stuart – cstuart@ucsd.edu