Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox: Collaboration Edition
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Transcript of Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox: Collaboration Edition
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.
Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox #writingtoolbox
Special Collaboration Edition!
TWITTER:
@scottrocketship
Scott Kubie - Web Conference 2014 at Penn State
Build Your Digital Writing Toolbox #writingtoolbox
Special Collaboration Edition!
SLIDES AND LINKS:
KUBIE.CO/DWT
Scott Kubie - Web Conference 2014 at Penn State
“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?
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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.
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Every assignment has a workflow. It could be as simple as “apply this specific process” or involve a variety of people, processes, and tools.
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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
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)
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
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
DOING
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
content priority plannerrhetorical map
stakeholder interviews
message architecturemindmapping
core + pathspersonasempathy map
message architecture
personasMarkdown
text expansion
Editing
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
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
Git
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
content priority plannerrhetorical map
stakeholder interviews
message architecturemindmapping
core + pathspersonasempathy map
message architecture
personasMarkdown
text expansion
version control
editing listscanonical draft
Marked 2
Notable
Glui
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
content priority plannerrhetorical map
stakeholder interviews
message architecturemindmapping
core + pathspersonasempathy map
message architecture
personasMarkdown
text expansion
version control
editing listscanonical draft
Marked 2
Notable
Glui
ID numbers
style guide
governance
inventories
AppleScripts
IFTTT
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