Writing for Designers

Write Quickly I want you to write quickly, for two reasons: If you try to compose the perfect draft one perfect word at a time, you’ll never get the writing done. Good clear writing comes from good clear thinking. The less time your thoughts have to rattle around in your head, the more time they can spend in the clear light of day—and the better they’ll sound in your design.

Write one thing at a time The best way to write also generates the best kind of writing: say just one thing at a time. Say one thing in your headings. Say one thing on your buttons. Say one thing in the tooltip text, one thing in the error message, one thing in each paragraph. Writers get stuck (and readers get lost) when the words are trying to express too much at once. Words are powerful, yes, but still bound by pesky constraints like “time” and “how brains work.” If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or the words are coming slowly, narrow your scope. Focus in and say just one thing.