Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox: Collaboration Edition

transcript

Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox #writingtoolbox

Special Collaboration Edition!

Scott Kubie - Web Conference 2014 at Penn State

Hello! I’m a note added just for YOU, the web reader. I add in context that was provided verbally during the original presentation.

TWITTER:

@scottrocketship

SLIDES AND LINKS:

KUBIE.CO/DWT

“If you can talk, you can sing.

- Dan Hays, the best choir teacher a kid could ever haveThis was his recruitment

pitch for concert choir…

“If you can think, you can write.

- Me, the guy on the stageThink thoughts. Type ‘em

out or write ‘em down.

Good job, you’re writing!

Writing process?

Interviewers always ask

authors about their

“creative process” or

“writing process”. How

applicable is this notion to

our work?

Process means repeating the same steps to achieve consistent results. You could have a personal process for writing a mystery novel, or a blog post, but for ALL writing?

Writing process?workflows It’s more useful to think

about the workflows for producing web content.

Every assignment has a workflow. It could be as simple as “apply this specific process” or involve a variety of people, processes, and tools.

Strategic application of tools and processes to get the work done.

Workflow

Know your tools

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228400.400-google-usability-chief-ideas-have-to-be-discoverable.html

%9 out of 10 internet search users don’t know to use CTRL+F to search text within a page.

According to a 2011 Google Study

techniqueapp service

“hack”

process

Know your tools

framework

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing ✔

Let’s visit the hardware store! Think about which tools you already have, and which you’d like to get, in each of these categories.

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

How do you improve your writing and correct errors?

How do you represent your thinking?

What tools and techniques do you use while writing?

How do you go from a finished draft to a

finished assignment?

Thinking

!Major Mistake:

Shifting all responsibility to the writer

Learn from Sherlock...

“Data! Data! Data! I can’t make bricks without clay.

- Sherlock Freaking Holmesas written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Thinking

+Choose tools that encourage:

Quantity

A blank word processor page is not the most inspiring thing in the world. It has high friction, and encourages a linear approach to ideas.

Thinking

Mindmapping

Thinking

Concept diagrams

Thinking

Nouns connected by Verbs

Concept (noun)

Proposition

link (verb)

Thinking

Message architecture

Cardsort: - How we’re perceived - Who we are - Who we want to be

Thinking

Content priority planner

Thinking

rhetorical map

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

content priority plannerrhetorical map

stakeholder interviews

message architecturemindmapping

core + paths

Composing

!Major Mistake:

Overcommitting (and over committeeing)

Composing

+Choose tools that prioritize:

Speed and simplicity

Composing

Word processors?

Composing

Word processorswriting environments

CMS WISYWYG

Scrivener“distraction free” apps

text editors:(

Composing

Photo by Flickr user Amanda Woodward http://flic.kr/p/9Dhs7

plain text

Plain text is a fantastic “material” to build your workflows around. It’s accessible, flexible, and fast. There’s a huge ecosystem out there around plain text workflows pioneered by geeky tech bloggers who wanted more sensible publishing tools.

Pages, Word and the like were designed for desktop publishing. I’ll use Pages for résumés, flyers, and the like, but the featureset is ill-suited for fast and efficient web content production. !If your stakeholders/audience simply MUST have a .doc, that’s an easy conversion from most text editing tools. Think of Word as where you publish, not where you write.

Composing

# Markdown #

Markdown is the most popular syntax for enhancing plain text. It is also a

tool for converting Markdown-formatted documents into HTML. It has

spawned its own category of apps and services for working with Markdown,

and there’s even a great iBook about it now.

Composing

text expansion

Tools like TextExpander let you write just a few characters and have it automatically replaced with different (usually longer) text. These “snippets” can be shared with your team, for everything from email signatures to customer support email templates.

Composing

personas THINKING FEELING

HEARING SEEING

empathy map

Empower your writers with personas

for your main audience and empathy

maps for the specific situation to give

them someone to write for.

Composing

Content templates

Content templates are great when someone outside

of your team has to own the writing. I like to load

mine up with “example” text that often finds its way

into the final product. Funny, that.

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

core + pathspersonasempathy map

message architecture

personasMarkdown

text expansion

Editing

!Major Mistake:

Reading without seeingReading text beginning to end as if you’re the intended audience is a good sanity check, but doesn’t inherently help you reconsider your narrative, structure, and phrasing.

Editing

+Choose tools that offer:

Isolation and abstraction

Editing

The 10% Solution

A lovely little book with many practical tips for improving your copy.

Editing

ACB’s

The 10% Solution

ACCURACYCLARITY

BREVITY

(get it right)

(get it clear)

(get to the point)

Editing

editing list

The 10% Solution

Words Word Parts

of that But And very because then

-ing -ly

Editing

Marked 2

Marked previews Markdown documents as HTML. It has a number of great editing features, including custom proofing dictionaries you can use to instantly highlight words from your editing list.

Editing

annotation

Don’t just reply to text, write on it! Red pens are associated with editors for a reason. Glui, Skitch, Notable, and even Preview.app are great for this.

Editing

Reference IDs

LABEL ALL THE THINGS! Number your emails. Number your campaigns. Put a number on each element within an interface design. Universally-unique labels facilitate easier conversations over email, chat, and project management software. “Use title case on 7.1” vs. “Use title case on the third action button on the fifth screen of the secondary update workflow for signed-in users…”

Editing

Version Control (nerdy)

CVS SVN

Consider a version control system for your content beyond the CMS. Ask your developers, they’ll be excited to tell you why what they use is better than everything else and help you get started.

Editing

Version Control (less nerdy)

Draft (draftin.com)

Google Drive

haxonomies (e.g. v1, v2, FINAL, draftx, notesx)

wikisCode-oriented version control systems might be overkill if you don’t have a lot of content. Many consumer-friendly web apps have options for version control.

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

personasMarkdown

text expansion

version control

editing listscanonical draft

Marked 2

Notable

ID numbers

style guide

Finishing

Finishing✔ ✔

!Major Mistake:

RushingA lot of good work can be undone by moving too quickly right at the end. Let the paint dry. Pack things carefully. And clean your tools.

Finishing✔ ✔

+Choose tools that prioritize:

Automation

Finishing✔ ✔

Plain text (again)

{noformat}<pre>

.txtDon’t let a pushy system inject a bunch of markup garbage into your work. In JIRA, for example, I wrap my copywriting recommendations in the {noformat} tag to keep it “clean”.

Finishing✔ ✔

Scripts, macros, and system services

A lot of finishing work for today’s writer is just manipulating text in various ways. Changing formats. Adding links and formatting. Etc. Computers are good at this kind of thing. Let them do it.

Finishing✔ ✔

Markdown Service Tools

All kinds of handy Markdown-flavored text

manipulation tools in one download.

Finishing✔ ✔

I wish there was an easy way to convert [format x] to [format y].

There is. There always is.Want to do X with Y? Google it! Someone has figured it out. Don’t suffer friction and tedium in your workflow if you can help it!

Finishing✔ ✔

Metadata triggers

IFTTT (If This, Then That)

email → evernote Email subject @Notebookname #tag1 #tag2

Finishing✔ ✔

CONTENT STRATEGY!!!review schedules

governance documents

content inventorycontent

rationale

Really, truly finishing—sending the email, publishing the article, submitting the application—can bring about a rush of anxieties. A solid content strategy helps us deal with these zero hour project killers and get the work done.

Thinking Composing

Editing Finishing

personasMarkdown

text expansion

version control

editing listscanonical draft

Marked 2

Notable

ID numbers

style guide

governance

inventories

AppleScripts

plain-text tags

That’s all. Thank you.

SLIDES AND LINKS:

KUBIE.CO/DWTTWITTER:

@scottrocketship

Questions?

Tools icon by Shane Miller, from The Noun Project

Notepad icon by Ema Dimitrova, from The Noun Project

Search Icon: Gianni Clifford, from The Noun Project

Typewriter by Alex Kwa from The Noun Project

Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox: Collaboration Edition

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