Version 7.1Wed 01 Apr
2009
AIGA Voice: How the Web Made Me a Better Copywriter
In this must-read for anyone publishing online, Cathy Curtis, former staff writer at The Los Angeles Times and the principal of Los Angeles-based copywriting and communications company Textual, outlines the principles she’s learned for effective writing on the Web.
“This medium has led me to develop a different way of writing — tighter, simpler, more transparent. The results, I believe, are greater clarity and persuasiveness, and a speedier, more user-friendly read.”
It’s like I often say: usability is a quality of writing too.
Remarks 2 total remarks were added before the post was closed.
Yiwu
I think sometimes the web made someone to copy other easily..
Kevin Fenton
She makes some very good points. In some ways, the web makes everyone into an advertising writer, since its demands for brevity and simplicity and its assumption of impatience have always been a part of advertising writing. Some nice specific observations about bullets and em dashes.
I wouldn’t want all writing to be like web writing; the leisurely, immersive quality of a good book can never be captured on the web. And some digital forms—especially powerpoints—are so impatient that they rip away context and produce bad, confusing, too cryptic writing.
