Writing Tips for Designers
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If you can operate a keyboard, you can write while you design. Here are quick tips for people who don’t think of themselves as writers.
- Use strong verbs and colorful adjectives. Why “make a decision to” write when you can “decide to” write? Use vigorous verbs that don’t need help from other words, and replace lengthy explanations with single adjectives if possible.
- Use a thesaurus to find the perfect word. If you don’t have one, check out OneLook — a free, and very comprehensive, online lexicon.
- Avoid clichés, inappropriate slang, and jargon. Simple, direct language is often much better than a tired aphorism or an overused advertising slogan. (Don’t even think of using “Got ____?” as a subhead!) And if you use slang, be aware that it can go very stale very fast.
- Relax. When many people start to write, they slip into an academic style marked by overly long sentences, passive verbs, and very formal words and structures. Most modern writing is much more conversational than that, so academic writing can sound very stilted. Read your writing aloud — you should sound like a person talking, not a person reading.
- Keep it short. If you can cut a word, then cut it. Watch out for sentences that are confusingly long. Use simple, plain-English words when you can. You’re trying to communicate, not to impress people with your vocabulary.
- Check your work. After you read it through, run a spelling checker. (Even the most-persnickety writers have “blind spots” when it comes to text they’ve written.) But be warned that Microsoft Word’s grammar checker is wrong as often, if not more often, than it is right. Stick to its advice on spelling instead.
This article was last modified on January 10, 2022
This article was first published on August 23, 2006
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