Who needs Amtrak?

My writer residency on the commuter rail

In January, Amtrak announced that they were launching a writer in residence program. The internet buzzed as writers rushed to submit their applications, lured by the romance of train travel and the chance to practice their craft free from the demands of the office or the coffee shop.

Though not without hiccups, Amtrak’s Writer in Residence program seems to be mostly a marketing success. The idea was inspired by a remark from novelist Alexander Chee in a PEN America interview with Lauren Cerand:

Content strategy, Marcomm, Writing /

“Business casual” editorial voice

Jimmy Guterman, magazine writer/editor extraordinaire and rock ‘n’ roller, has a great post on his blog about the “business casual” editorial voice:

Yet the metaphor works. Everyone knows what business casual means, which is a key to quick understanding. A business casual voice is serious but light, focused on ease, deliberately avoiding the stuffy. Business casual is more interested in what it is doing for the audience than the writer or performer. Business casual is about communication, not obfuscation.

(Emphasis mine)

I have worked with a lot of content originators and subject matter experts who write the same way they learned in high school; stiff, formal, you know — boring. For a doc such as a technical white paper boring = death. Even worse, boring means nobody reads it.

I’m going to use the business casual metaphor next time I need to make this point. Somewhere in between a suit and cargo shorts, editorially speaking, are the comfortable khakis that will deliver you message in a serious but approachable manner.

Tech Writing /

(Only?) Nine myths about technical writing

It’s a post that many technical writers have longed to write, and now Ellis Pratt has. Nine myths of technical writing, which Pratt blogged on his Cherryleaf site, lists nine of the more popular myths tech communicators hear about technical writing. I have no idea why “nobody reads the manuals” is listed third, instead of being first, bolded, and in all-caps.

Two of my other all-time faves made the list:

If we put out manuals on the Web, our competitors will have an advantage over us
You must use the 7+-2 rule for lists and arranging your information

There’s some good comments on the post as well. Check out the full list on Pratt’s site.

Content strategy, Trends /

Content strategy is easy

Gordon McLean has a great post on his blog, One Man Writes, about all the buzz around content strategy. (The post is so good, I stole its title for this post!)

For many people who don’t spend a lot of time worrying about content, it seems a bit grandiose to have to have a strategy around something that has been taken for granted or, in the worst cases, ignored altogether.

McLean rightly points out that content strategy is not really anything new. It’s always been the goal of tech comms and technical marketing comms to get the right information to the right person at the right time. I think the reason there is so much buzz about Content Strategy (with initial caps) is that content has become so much of the currency social sphere of the Web. And because everything is online the tech-y stuff like user guides and specs are sitting alongside the marketing-y stuff, not hidden away in dusty three-ring binder manual that “nobody reads”.

Once you mention that having good control over the content being produced, with a view to improving how it is created and delivered, will cost money, suddenly the picture changes. … None of this is new, these ideas have been talked about and debated for several years under the guise of Content Strategy, and for far longer than that in terms of ROI of content (and the teams who deliver it).

McLean’s post has some other great stuff in it, including a mention of Rahel Baillie and Noz Urbina’s book Content Strategy for Decision Makers, which is now on my to-read list.