Richard Nolan
Richard Nolan is a professional educator and team building coach, sharing his experience in spheres of writing, blogging, entrepreneurship, and psychology.
Did you know that the most crucial piece of any writing design is good for writing plus editing? Yes, these are two...
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Did you know that the most crucial piece of any writing design is good for writing plus editing?
Yes, these are two processes which happen before and after designing your first sketch. You’ll also use them throughout the project as you write and rewrite content multiple times.
In fact, by not writing correctly even the most stellar designs go unnoticed. So, avoid mistaking laden, clunky, and just boring content as it will undoubtedly destroy your project. On the other hand, high-quality copy plays a huge part in making your design shine. That’s why we are going to help you look at what good writing and editing can add to your project. Take a look!
Good writing and editing refine and polish any project. It’s like an ‘icing on the cake.’ In any case, how can you understand the best method to make something if the message is not clear?
Although you may not need all the words to start, it’s important to have a good idea.
Even journalists use a method known as the ‘inverted pyramid’ in their writing. Here, the essential piece of information comes first in the project and then the lesser, crucial facts follow it. It is one of the most suitable techniques for approaching your writing design. Simply grab your readers with the most relevant or captivating facts first!
Now, on the actual language and writing itself, we’ve put together a few facts that you should note. They include:
Understanding your readers and how they absorb content
Maintaining consistent approach between the visuals and texts
Revising and editing make the project leaner and cleaner
How will the actual words look on the screen
In some situations, hiring a professional is a wise move
The first step to any writing project is thinking about your readers. Always ask yourself this question, “who should read this piece?” Once you’ve made your decision, come up with a copy that draws their attention. Such includes everything from your method of writing, the phrasing and casual words as well as tone.
Well, a lot of the content that we find today on the internet is mostly meant for English speakers, but this is not always the case. Whichever the situation and regardless of the language, it’s wise to look for a native speaker who will help you with the copy. We’ve discovered that it’s the slightest intricacies of speech that bring out key differences when it comes to producing a piece that’s easy to read as compared to one that’s unprofessionally written.
Therefore, your style of writing should not only be simple but also straight to the point. If you’re writing for narrow or specific audiences, try to expand your vocabularies a bit. All in all, keep in mind that writing properly is merely coming up with content which even someone with an eighth-grade comprehension level can understand!
The next step is coming up with visuals and phrases that work perfectly together. Many times, we’ve seen designers working in one room while copywriters go in another. What these people don’t know is that to produce the best project, these elements need to ‘collide.’
Well, let us say that you’re designing a brochure for your favorite rock band. To bring out their rock and roll type of style, you decide to include images of them signing autographs, attending parties and in concerts. However, you digress by making your writing too formal. Luckily, by rewriting your text, and using a casual approach, the words and visuals ‘marry’ seamlessly!
The first thing that you’ll have to do is to come up with an outline. Your design and writing teams should discuss the visuals and text during each section of the copy. So, if one group decides to change the course or plan of the project, the entire team also needs to know. Most importantly, if you don’t write one section of the project properly, the whole copy will fail.
Our third step is editing. For a good copy to shine, it needs to go through a careful editing process. As you revise it, remove grammatical errors and poor phrasing of sentences to make it leaner and direct to the point. You should then give it to someone else to go through it too. If he or she finds it unclear, it’s likely that others will too!
After reading it twice, put the copy aside for some time and then come back later (take several days). Edit it once more as you make sure that your grammar is in check, and pass it on to another person to do the same. The essence of doing this is because what prevents you from writing properly is the inability to find errors in your text!
Key points to check as you proofread your work include:
Going over key points like features of what you want to ‘sell’ if there’s a list of prices to cover. Break the copy into subheadings for clarity.
Look for long sentences, and try to break them down. You could use bullet points.
Lastly, any text for the web should follow the rules of search engine optimization!
Now, how do you make it fit? Of course, you’ll have to go through it one more time. Keep on looking for phrases which are hard to understand. Once you place the final text in your design, work with the sentences, and arrange them logically for easier reading.
Also, ensure that there’s consistency in your overall style. Here, make sure that the body has a universal size and typeface. The same case applies to other elements and headers. Go through things like navigation elements to ensure that they are all equal in their number of context, words, and size. Ask yourself questions like, “are my calls to action easy and clear to understand?” “Have I used consistent phrasing in all sections?”
If you’re just new to writing, then hiring the services of an expert should be your first step. On the other hand, depending on your project, this could end up being the most suitable solution. You could opt to hire a copywriter to assist you in making suggestions and changes.
There are no magic tricks when hiring an expert. Simply hire a permanent writer or a freelancer. However, before making an appointment, have a perfect feel for the writing style of the person you want. He or she should blend with how you like your work done.
Good writing and editing are the most vital part of any project or design. It takes planning, teamwork, and cooperation to write a successful design project. So, remember to use phrases which envision the mission of the copy. In the end, it should appear flawless, but if you have doubts, revise, edit and re-plan!
So, as a blogger or web-designer, where do you feel you go wrong when creating your projects?
Richard Nolan is a professional educator and team building coach, sharing his experience in spheres of writing, blogging, entrepreneurship, and psychology.
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I am absolutely sure that if you are not confident in your abilities – it is always worthwhile to hire a professional. This does not worsen the situation – you are freeing up time for more necessary cases that you can do at the professional level – and to earn more profit than if you sat down to write an article – you would have spent several hours of time – and would have done at least medium-quality work. Everyone should do what he can do at the professional level. By doing several things at once, you lose quality 🙁