Designing with Words

General Assembly, New York

Transcript

1. Designing with Words
   Content Strategy and Web Writing Basics Nicole Fenton @nicoleslaw nicolefenton.com
2. Topics About me What I do (and don’t do) The writing process Tips for better content Q&A
4. What I Do
5. Deliverables Communication plans Creative briefs Style guides Writing exercises Web content
6. Web Content Types Interface buttons and links forms and flows instructions navigation labels errors and alerts product tours strings Marketing and Editorial articles and essays landing pages product and feature names descriptions blog posts taglines emails
7. Danger, lorem ipsum!
8. Writing is Design
9. Goals Communicate Inform different audiences Solve or reduce problems Create lasting work Make the world a better place Celebrate life
10. “Wise therapists help clients to think more clearly, feel more deeply, and behave more responsibly. Wise writers often want to do these same things.”
    ! Mary Pipher
 Writing to Change the World
11. What I Don’t Do • Visual design, Photoshop • Front-end dev: CSS, JavaScript • Code: PHP, Ruby, Python, etc. • SEO • Social media blahblah
14. Tip 1 Find a shared language.
18. Tip 2 Sketch and write modularly.
20. “Build a corner. This is what people who are good at puzzles do. They ignore the heaps of colors and shapes and simply look for straight edges… Every book, story, and essay begins with a single word… Anchor yourself somewhere—anywhere—on the page.”
    ! Dani Shapiro Still Writing
21. Tip 3 Show 3+ variations.
23. Tip 4 Edit it live.
24. Tip 5 Use your voice.
25. Record Yourself • Make a list of questions you want to answer. • Grab a recording device. • Walk around. Talk to yourself. • Use what you say as a rough draft.
26. Do a Human Check Read it out loud. Ask yourself: • Is it clear? • Is it useful? • Is it friendly? • Is it true?
27. A Few More Tips ✍✍✍✍✍ Read edited text Find your early readers Be nice to each other There is no secret
28. Thank You! @nicoleslaw nicolefenton.com ! nicelysaid.co