#transcription added bc my writing can be terrible

[its-all-papaya]

🫧 (sheets and towels lol)

I was wondering how you usually go about outlining? I’ve always been so terrible at it so if you had any advice or even just explaining the process a bit that would be lovely.

YAY ALL MY LOADS OF LAUNDRY ARE AT LEAST STARTED TYYYY

assign me a chore!!

i'm actually probably a bad person to ask about this because i'm usually kind of awful at "outlining" fics in any definite way. however.... i do kind of have a process, it's just not usually a formal outline.

my USUAL process is to kind of just dump every thought i have related to a fic in a bullet point list that gets added to and subtracted from as the fic develops. if i have pm's with a mutual that inspired a fic, i'll copy paste those into the list to start. if i have ideas for scenes, i'll add those to the list. if there are irl quotes or events that are relevant, those also go in the list. from there, i'll kind of rearrange things in the order that makes sense (either chronologically or by "type" of thing - i.e. for the hollow hereafter, i had a section of quotes with sub-bullets that were just transcripts from each segment of media, then i had a section of "vibes" that were like "lando just wants it all to end, can't imagine ever feeling right again after how dramatically everything inside of him has shifted", etc). once they're in an order that makes my brain feel good, i put them below a page break and start typing actual sentences at the top of the fic in a blank page. then as i'm typing a fic, if i have thoughts about things i want to do down the line NOT in the scene i'm currently typing, i'll add those to the list too as not to disrupt the actual "proper" text i'm building. once i use a thought off the list, it gets deleted so i can see what's left in the bank more clearly. basically everything that is ACTUAL COPY I INTEND ON PUBLISHING gets written from the top of the doc down, then every stray thought i want to preserve gets added onto the bottom of the doc until i use it. there are usually like sections and sub-bullets on that list to keep things semi-organized.

when i DO outline more formally, such as dad lando, it's honestly kind of stream of consciousness. i started with rough, one-line summaries of what i thought each chapter might be (i.e. one was "first meeting", two was "start texting" etc etc until we get to "epilogue"). then i filled in in sub-bullets what i wanted to include in each chapter. some, such as "oscar meets emma" are like SUPER SUPER vague rn. like three sentences. some, such as "lando goes golfing with max" had really clear inspo in my head and are like two pages of rambling. because i felt strongly about how i wanted it to go, i just started typing in half-coherent sentences (honestly how i answer asks here sometimes? this is a good example of the flow i'm talking about). however, half of that extremely rushed, just-trying-to-get-it-down-on-paper musing about this golf outing is probably word-for-word going to end up in the fic because i just let my brain work. and that's how it works a lot of the time for me. i start typing thinking it's just going to be the gist of plot points, and it ends up prose i really, really like because i'm letting my brain work freely.

my MAIN advice for outlining based on my own learning curve:

write down LITERALLY every thought you have related to a fic. whether it's half a sentence, a guiding vibe, a real event that inspires you in ways related to the fic... literally anything. you obviously don't have to use it all, but sometimes those stray thoughts help re-center me when i get kind of lost in the sauce of a fic. when i'm stuck, i just scroll the list and see if anything sticks out to me to use or draw from to get me out of the block.

don't FORCE yourself to outline every moment or plot point. like i said, some of my dad lando chapters are really thoroughly outlined, some are suuuper vague. i didn't force myself to try and plan out any of chapter three bc i wasn't feeling particularly strongly about how i wanted it to go, and it just worked itself out in time as i typed instead. i've outlined what i've figured out, and i'm going with the flow with the rest. the outline mainly motivates me and reminds me what i'm building towards, ultimately, instead of dictating every little thing i want to include. i'm never afraid to say "and then ????? but they end up kissing" and revisit once the vibes have built around a moment.

may seem obvious, but outlines are not final. i've pushed sooooo much shit i meant to include in chapters one and two of dad lando to chapter four bc it didn't hit right when i thought it would. my outline for thh was like six times as long as the actual fic bc i cut out so much stuff i thought i wanted to use. outlines are literally just to keep track of thoughts, imo, and like i said, to guide you. doesn't have to be fully formed to be useful.

hope that was helpful!!! a lot of this is very very similar to how i used to process my research papers in college, so i've had upwards of like eight years now to refine my process and find what works for my brain specifically. so i guess last tip is just try different things and use what works and throw out what doesn't in terms of methodology. everybody's different!

love u good luck writing feel free to ask more about any of this if you'd like 🫶

[ask-the-yugoslavbunch]

[pic 1] Serb: It was a little kid crush, why do people bring it up? Bos, being pushed: please do not

[pic 2] Bos: I’ve never really had a crush. Never been the type.

[throwaninkpot]

Notes from the Return of the Thief launch party Q&A with MWT!

• (I meant to keep a Not Telling tally but I got distracted by all the good words Megan put together.)

EDIT: A VOD of the stream has been posted here!

• It took 20 minutes into the event to get the first Not Telling, and everyone was astonished it wasn't sooner.

• She referenced the Not Telling shirt made for her by @queensandkingsofattolia ! She wasn't wearing it, but she did have her Not Telling socks, which she would put on her hands and hold up to the camera.

• She talked about how she doesn't like suspense as a reader. She always wants the stories to get to the point instead of dragging on, so in writing, she puts light scenes in to break up the suspense. She doesn't always know what those scenes will be, she just has a feel for what's needed there. One example is when Sophos and the magus are traveling to Attolia in aCoK, when they eat the chicken. "We eat the chicken now!" was a scene that made her happy while she wrote it.

• She was asked to explain the gods and how the different pantheons work with each other, and said she never wants to explain the gods. She doesn't want them to be cut-and-dry or understandable.

• Asked about writing such complex, ruthless characters and making them likeable.

Alex (mod): Do you think [the POV characters] good? Megan: *silently presents Not Telling socks*

• Said that if you're going to spend so much time in a characters head, there has to be some part of them that you and the readers will like. And there are some people whose heads she didn't want to be in. Even the ruthless ones making terrible decisions, she does like. "Nahuseresh? Not so much."

Alex: *says something about how they've never encountered books with more poker face than QT* Megan: *big ol' grin*

• Talking about how these books have so many layers and so much suspense, Megan said a lot of that is owing to the fact it's a series and she needed to be consistent, she couldn't switch the style of it or tone halfway through. When she writes the next thing, it might be a whole different kind of book. She'll have to see whether that was just sonething distinctive to QT, or that's what she naturally gravitates towards writing.

• She mentioned that she isn't fond of 1st person narrative, and the chat collective raised a single eyebrows at the irony.

• In fact, TaT was written in 3rd person at first. But she realized that wasn't working so she scrapped that and rewrote the whole thing, bc it needed to be Kamet who was telling us the story.

• She pronounced Kamet as "Kam-et".

• When talking about the details in her books and how they go into logistics, she brought a book onto camera called Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army by Donald W. Engles. It heavily influenced the way she wrote about war and the politics thereof in QT.

• The Thief was partly inspire by a conversation she had with a young relative back during the Bush administration when Kuwait was invaded. The young relative didn't understand what the U.S. was doing in the middle east when we had so many problems to focus in our own country, and Megan explained that we weren't involved in that conflict out of the goodness of our hearts, but bc they had resources we wanted. (The way she phrased it, you could hear the magus talking to the boys in The Thief, and it gave me shivers.) And she realized, kids don't see that side of war in stories. Armies are always fighting Sauron and the forces of evil, and acting out if their own self-interests against people who might not be all bad.

• And thus, The Queen's Thief spiraled jnto existence.

• Why does she choose to write about disability and illness the way she does? Rosemary Sutcliff. Sutcliff was disabled for most of her life, and this reflected in the stories she told. Megan recalls Warrior Scarlet as the first book that challenged her as a kid to think about disability and illness as a natural part of life, and to question who gets to be at the center of the story. Who gets to be the hero? Who gets to be the hero of an adventure story? Why shouldn't characters dealing with illness or disability be those heros?

• TaT was a direct response to Sutcliff's novel Eagle of the Ninth, where an earnest young Roman soldier has these great plans for his life that get toppled when he is injured in his first battle and can no longer serve.

Megan: Costis checks every box for earnest young guy!

• In Eagle, there is a slave who travels with the protagonist and is freed by him at the end as part of the protagonist's journey. It was important to tell TaT from Kamet's point of view so that it was about him. "He is never an object of a quest, always a person."

• Megan has never read The Aeneid.

• She recommends Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin, which tells The Aeneid from a different POV.

• On writing process: She doesn't outline. When she has a book idea, she first tells it as a story by cornering her husband and telling him the whole thing with plenty of hand gestures. After that, she does a "sketch". She writes down the shape of the story, plotlines and characters, which is usually half the length of the finished book. Then she fleshes it out, and cuts and adds and cuts snd adds until she has pretty much a whole book, and then she edits again to cut everything that doesn't absolutely need to be there.

• She says it's important to remember you can't fix everything in one draft. You just need to focus on 20 or so things at a time, and then on the next pass you can focus on 20 other things.

• On keeping characters straight: "It's very crowded in my head." She doesn't focus so much on remembering exactly what she has written about a character before, but knowing who the character is so that she knows how they would react in whatever new situation she is writing them in.

Megan: Okay, Costis. I know this guy, I know what he's going to do. He's going to punch that guy in the face and it will be very embarrassing.

• A lot of people asked about the vampires referenced in The Thief and if they were real. She's not telling.

• Someone *cough*me*cough* Asked if she was planning a spin-off series about Eddisian vampires falling in love. "Never say never, but it's probably unlikely."

Alex: What happened to Ornon's sheep? Megan: Guys....guys......I have to put on another sock, come on, guys! *digs for her Not Telling socks and holds them up*

• On worldbuilding: You have to break with reality. It's great to research the process of how to retin pans! Adding details like that can enrich your story, but you can also add things that wouldn't have been possible in the real world. Like, pocket watches and window glass and printing presses all at the same time. The made up details also make your story richer.

Megan: Cut the research and tell a good story!

• On myths: She never writes the myths first. When she was writing The Thief, she would make a new line and type "[Myth Here]" and then go on with the rest of the story and cone back to that later.

• She recommends Ancient Near East Texts by James B. Pritchard for some good myths!

• What she likes best about DWJ: The Audacity(tm). DWJ would write about the most bizarre things very casually.

Megan: Her stories had a "hold my beer" quality.

• She told the story about hiw DWJ got her published (Alex: "She had good taste") and trying to send DWJ the advanced copy of aCoK before she died, but those stories have been retold elsewhere before so I won't bother with them now.

• Megan wore lovely, lovely earrings! And at the beseechment of the chat, she showed them to the camera and told us they were made by @freenarnian

• Finally, the winner of the trivia party was granted the honor of asking a question on camera, and Megan benevolently said she would not cry Not Telling on whatever was asked.

• Margaux, the winner, asked what the age difference was between Dite and Irene, and if they had grown up together.

• After a REAL long pause, Megan said that she didn't think they had grown up together. Irene is younger than Dite, and she was too busy, and I quote, "killing people." Her childhood ended early and she didn't have time to be a kid. Besides that, they wouldn't have been allowed to hang out in Attolian society, bc she was a girl and he was a boy. They were probably introduced to each other atvevents, but that was it.

• Also: Dite is pronounced "Die-tee".

• She has more events like this planned in the future!!!!! Keep an eye on her tumblr!!!!!

• EDIT: @whataliethatwas made a transcript of the event!

[heteronumber]

Me too (and same rule cause I didn't even consider that wasn't required)

Transcript and commentary below cut

fixing canon:- "Picking Up Pieces" *banging on Toei's door* LET ME IN YOU COWARDS I NEED TO SET THIS RIGHT

I just want them to kiss:- I think I have a disease that makes me want to develop plots so I struggle on just wanting them to kiss, there's always a million things else in there

this idea won’t shut up until I write it:- "Short Lived Romance" this fic literally rotted in my brain from when I was watching Abaranger and it wasn't any of the latter part of the fic. It was specifically the scene of the animal being culled in the zoo, tho it took me a bit to decide on what animal. That scene and Ryoga choosing not to react to it. I avoided writing it for a While bc it felt too dark.

found a a prompt list:- "Pie Crimes and Misdemeanors" Pie stuffing prompt was just so funny what can I say? I don't understand the kink at all but haha funnie

everyone lives and nothing hurts:- ...Im angst monkey that likes when the pain thing happens

saw the plot and needed it for my OTP:- "Long Long Dan" I mean who's going to see the Long Long Man ads and not go "yea that should be my OTP" and go absolutely fucking wild with it

I was joking with my friend and it happened:- "Really Big Mistakes" was genuinely just a wild fucking joke about Chihiro's terrible canon kink and it sure just kept escalating and I didn't even include the worse ideas

I woke up at 3am with an idea:- "My Big Brother Can't Possibly Read This" 100% what happened. I got up, wrote this fic, posted it, and immediately went back to bed.

this is going to be so HOT:- I always think I've wrote a lot of really horny fics but I don't think I have many fics that are really because I was being horny, there is no hot, move on

thought of a great scene:- "Lobelia" literally the scene of Goro stuffing flowers in his mouth. There's some other's planned but that was like the chefs kiss "I have to write this" scene

fuck this character in particular:- This isn't my style I don't have any interest in this. The closest you'll get is like intense soap opera drama

but what happened BEFORE canon?:- "Kuroyuri" while it will go into canon parallel, I really wanted to contextualise some of my Tojo headcanons and then slap on some hanahaki for fun

FREE SPACE

spite:- "Shiragiku" There was many levels of spite going into this

but what if they were gay?:- I don't know what a het is

thought of a great line:- I have a million "good line" prompts saved and just not written :')

I just need them to suffer:- This is my taste. I just don't write it very much strangely

gift fic:- "Pain as in Bread" I wouldn't write Noel hurt under normal circumstance, I doubt I'd write LvP tbh

I want this universe and those characters:- I don't really do a lot of AU stuff beyond hanahaki, which doesn't make any major setting changes it's just like a stuff pack for the base game

it came to me in a dream:- I know there has to be one but I genuinely can't remember

I don’t even know:- "Some Nights"

fixing fanon:- I write essays when I'm ready to fight fanon

but what happens AFTER canon:- "I am Big" This was a gift fic prompt but it did just tumble in my brain and I ended up having to write it as a little treat bc it was such a good one

if no one else will write it, I will:- "Eat Me" I have been told no one wrote it because no one wanted it or felt it was necessary but Consider. I exist.

just to see if I could:- "Home is Wherever I'm with You" Kuuga is a fucking beast to write for that scares me so much even after writing this but I did it so

Why I wrote it BINGO (transcript under the cut)

Keep reading

[resbang-bookclub]

AMA Transcript: bouquet garni

Next up, @skadventuretime, @guacamoletrash and @jamesfalt (Souly on Discord) stopped by to chat about their Resbang, bouquet garni! Here’s some of what went down:

Q: Madi, how did you come up with everyone's characters, like Harvar being a gaming streamer and Tsu and Liz being farmers etc. etc. because I thought those were all really unique and interesting!

madi: Ahaha let's see, I started planning this back last... May? and talking with the beta crew, as one does. And naturally marsh [ @marshofsleep ] , enabler that she is, just put it out there.

madi: And I was just playing a bunch of overwatch at the time and thought he'd be a good gamer nerd, and also I had decided to make this Extra self-indulgent, so I was like “my city now”. I basically poured all of my friend feels into [Harvar] and Anya in particular. The past couple years have been rougher for me, but I've had some really spectacular friends, and I decided Maka and Soul needed them, too.

Q: The part with the sword and stuff, I just…

madi: OH THAT ahahahaha. Okay yeah that was end of Resbang crunch time and me being extra 'fuck it.'

madi: That was what the team thought about that.

Q: Artist-chans, what programs do you use and how does your arting process go? And how is guac so good at playlisting??

Souly: I use paint tool SAI :0 I might still have some of my progress pics, lemme look.

guac: Lol. I don't think I'm super good at it but I do enjoy music a lot and like to make playlists so maybe that's it!

Souly: Yeah here we go. Mid lining.

I did it a lil differently than I normally do. I normally line everything and then do flats but I was actually super behind bc of life stuff so I just started doing flats per character after their lines were done. This is a sample of what the layers look like:

madi: Man how do u keep track of ur layers? Or is it like, a sixth sense?

Souly: I go off of the little layer previews and hope the layer has what I'm looking for.

madi: LOL that sounds like me.

Souly: I also like... tend to set up layers for characters a specific way so I can normally find those?

guac: BRUH THAT'S SO MANY LAYERS.

Q: Did you have a favorite character to write? 8)

madi: I just love writing Star being balls to the walls ridiculous. The saxophone thing came about because I saw this video and was like oh my god it's Black Star in the flesh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMyqasy2Lco . But I also really liked writing Maka being sort of the one with issues, too.

Q: Which character in your fic did you most identify with? And was it purposeful or accidental?

madi: Iiiiiiii'd have to say I identified with [Maka] the most this fic, for once. Usually it's soul, but I ended up pouring a lot of myself into her, and it was both purposeful and accidental how it all worked out.

Q: I’m surprised, because there were a lot of things I noticed about Soul that I know are you-things!

madi: Yeah!!! I definitely can't help that with him, they both got a lot of me.

Q: I know you said this fic was super personal and self-indulgent so was it generally pretty easy to write because of that, or did you have trouble?

madi: Hmmmm yeah I definitely had some trouble. About 20k in, I sort of lost the emotional thread of it, and whined a lot to Bones [ @adulterclavis ] about what I could do to fix it, and it turned out that I just needed to talk to someone about it to find where I wanted to go again, and then it got easier. I still struggled for sure not having a traditional Big Antagonist plotline thing, it was more personal and then Maka's mom… Bones let me cry in her inbox about writing.

Q: What brought about your characterization of Mama Albarn (who i still hate btw >: ((( )?

madi: You are not the only one...

guac: I'm always ready to fight her.

madi: Okay so, basically Mama Albarn came about just from how I used to (and still sometimes do) talk to myself. It's that internalized idea you always have to be perfect, and if you aren't given everything you've been given and have, then you're weak and a fuckup and how dare you not be the best? DEFINITELY a toxic mindset, and Bad. And this fic was sort of exorcising that, a little. This was an external abusive deal, but you can absolutely develop abusive thought patterns towards yourself, and you can also free yourself from them, like Maka was ultimately able to.

Q: Was there a scene in particular you really enjoyed?

madi: I heckin’ loved the butt lamp scene. It honestly kept me going, knowing I'd be able to write that monstrosity. And also drunk Kid, who marsh aptly named Five Drink Amy. AND THEN GUAC skl;dfkld. So there was this, right, and then guac

madi: Which linked to THIS PIC:

madi: And we all could not stop laughing.

Q: What was the hardest part to write?

madi: I got stuck at the end of chapter 3, and I ultimately added another section on to it to make it work, but I think deciding how I wanted to transition from her debauched night out into a Soul POV chapter given what I wanted each person to sort of be faced with was probably the hardest thing for me. This whole deal was largely driven by me groping in the dark at what felt right.

Q: PS I loved the debauched night out. And Patty's drinks.

madi: I loved patty in this!! Bones wanted to marry her, so I know it Worked Out. She was another fun one to write, as were her drinks ahaha.

Q: What was your favorite thing about this Resbang in particular?

madi: Oh jeez, hm. I think my favorite thing was doing a better job fleshing out the side characters in Harv and Anya and Kid and Star. That was something I regret not doing better in my older work, so I'm happy I got to try my hand at giving people other than Soul/Maka some personality.

guac: They became such a cute little chosen family.

Q: Why a food-themed story specifically? What about that appealed to you? (For everyone!)

madi: (Apeeled).

Souly: I fucking love SoMa. [And] the cooking aspect really drew me in... idk why but I've always had a thing for those kinds of things with anime I'm into?

guac: My current relationship started with them teaching me how to cook real food cause I used to eat like a garbage can, so I was like ‘welp this is gonna be hella cute, count me in.’

madi: Omg, I didn't know that, that's ADORABLE.

guac: Shhhhh. I don't talk about my feelings very much. But yeah. I was like ‘a SoMa AU about my life!!!’

Souly: Honestly yeah same, I feel like I also like... connected with Maka about being poor and just buying shit to eat.

madi: Let's see, I had a prompt sitting in my inbox FOREVER that was like 'I’m obsessed with a food blogger who writes about cheap ways to be gourmet in your 20s and I flirt with them over comments but they never post pictures of their face and ALSO there’s a really cute grocery bagger at the store down the street who teases me and always asks to join me for dinner and I definitely want to say yes AU' that I was initially gonna go with, and originally it was a little closer to this deal. My first blush ideas for this sort of had the drama in not knowing who was whom, and the big reveal being the climax, or something like Maka thinking Soul was taken because she thought he was involved with the comment girl and then that whole drama. But then I thought that that sorta thing had been done before, and I wanted this to be less about the drama of the reveal and more about the process of them growing closer, I guess. And I also looooooove cooking and baking, so that definitely bled through.

Q: I thought it was a neat shake up how you didn’t make the reveal the crux of the whole thing.

madi: Ahahaha yeah, I definitely thought about it, but ultimately wanted this to be less 'gasp, it's YOU!' because the reader knows, and if I wanted to make the reader invested, I'd have to keep them apart and do the kinda drama I wasn't feeling for this fic. The insta bit came about because I spend some time looking at food pics before I go to sleep, and that provided a lot of insp for that section. Half of my degree is in nutrition, so I like to see the recipes people come up with, and also roll my eyes at some of the bougie stuff, because insta is definitely a Platform for that, depending on where you end up haha. Also like, I definitely took some things I've experienced flat out and added them in, like Harv shoving Maka electrolyte packets. Last year when I was deep in the sad pit, my diet was terrible, and I knew it, but I wasn't doing much about it. And then one day I was talking to Bones and my leg muscle kept spasming, and she was like dude when was the last time you've gotten minerals and I was like .....oh. So she sent me a link for those packets to hold me over on days I wasn’t getting them from my diet ahaha. Bones is also where some of Kid came from, and bits of Anya.

Q: Where did you get your recipes? I want a cookbook based on this fic p...please.

modi: Okay okay let me find some of the recipes that inspired things:

https://showmetheyummy.com/crockpot-mexican-chicken-recipe/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BfWNxv9HuHg/?hl=en&taken-by=thefeedfeed.

[Bones] was also the steak recipe insp!

madi: The kitchn, thefeedfeed, showmetheyummy, minimalistbaker were all feeds that I was inspired by, and then I just improv’d from there, because I have cooked all or most of the things I described in there. AND IT'S WHERE MAKA'S CUPCAKE GAZING CAME FROM. LOOK AT THE GLORIOUS MOUNTAIN OF ICING https://www.instagram.com/p/BaRGvjGDBpr/?hl=en&taken-by=thescranline

Q: Did you feel like your writing has changed at all during writing this?

madi: Yeah, for sure! I thought that this year I got better at characterizing people, adding some personality to them that was a little more nuanced than I'd done before. I think I absorbed some of Bones's longer sentence style, which I personally tend to like even though I am still getting a handle on it, and I think I got better at describing things in general. Next step is being better with plot and tightening up the language a little more >:) Most of the changes, I think, were sentence style and how I handled dialogue, which is usually harder for me.

Q: Artists: did you learn any new techniques that you plan to practice or improve on any you've been trying to learn?

Souly: Oh yeah, I learned doing flats as I go with lines actually speeds up the process slightly... I practiced a different lighting technique that I never did end up going with but I kinda figured out what I need to do to make it work. It sadly just didn't work with how I set up this pic.

madi: Oooo nice, linework is Intimidating but you made it look easy.

guac: I am just glad to force myself to make stuff. Glad to be here. Thought my drawing of bodies got better (thanks Black Star).

madi: Y'all don't understand the sound I made when I saw guac drew the apron.

Souly: That Blackstar pic is my fave.

Q: WHAT'S NEXT, everybody? ;D

madi: >;) well, I have a secret project that I thought of last year that I am not yet sure will be a Resbang or a chaptered dealio, so I want to pick at that. Then I have a chaptered Star vs the Forces of Evil fic I need to update, and I owe Pip [ @paperypiper ] like two or three Noragami fluff pieces, and SILLY’S BDAY SMUT. Which will proabbly be like a whole year late but whatever I’m sorry, I will try to make it extra spicy.

Souly: I'm signing up for a few zines! I'm currently waiting for them to open apps but I'm looking at an Enstars zine, FMA tarot project, and some YOI zines. I was also recently in the Soul Eater reversal zine that just closed preorders the other day so I'm waiting to be able to post my piece :0

guac: I'm arting for the BNHA big bang and mostly consumed by school. Who knows what will happen next! There's a little pop punk lyrics + anime project I'm working on so maybe I'll show it to the world someday soon. We will see.

madi: OH YEAH I’m writing for that bang too! AND GUAC GOT ME AS AN ARTIST. It's the ultimate resonance.

[prxncessophelia]

Magdalena Bay /r/Popheads Discord AMA [16/08/2019] Transcript

Q : Did you get your name from this iconic bop? [Sandra : Maria Magdalena]

MB : hahah no, Matt stole it from a literal person named Magdalena Bay // (they called her maggy bay)

Q : whats your biggest influence that sounds nothing like your own music

MB : we love PC Music even though we don't really sound like it

Q : out of everything you’ve made, what song is your all-time fave/which one are you the most proud of?

MB : We think Set Me Off is super underrated, but usually our fave is whatever the newest thing we write is

Q : Did Matt take up that offer at the DMV?

MB : hahaha NO

Q : whats the song you guys most had trouble with?

MB : hmmm probably move slow, we re-did the melody and production a few times before we settled on the disco vibes

Q : What made you guys decide to go for shorter song lengths, or was it somethjng that just happened naturally?

MB : We got tired of waiting so long to release official singles, wanted to do low-pressure quick songs that we could get out to our fans sooner!

Q : So like, where’s Voc pop on Spotify?

MB : hahah does anyone actually like that song?! It was the first pop thing we ever made and it was more of a learning experience for us than an actual song to us

Q : are you planning to tour europe anytime soon?

MB : we'd love to tour just need the right opportunity

Q : what's both of your favourite songs right now? also have you heard any of Caroline Polachek's music

MB : Actually one of our favorite songs right now is Door! Another is Ever Again (Robyn)

Q : one more: do you have any plans for an album in the future? Or are you just going with the flow

MB : yes we have album plans! Maybe next year

Q : Did you have a specific inspiration for Neon's music video, or was it just the whole vaporwave aesthetic in general?

MB : that video we actually didn't do ourselves, we found that archival footage of the couple and had that intro sequence sone but we sent it to our talented friend Matt Lewis who added the whole vaporwave element, we really weren't too aware of that whole world at the time! But it really worked well with Neon

Q : do you like the band Superorganism?

MB : haven't really listened to Superorganism, we'll check them out!

Q : Only thing I don’t like is the redbone cover to be honest with you and I’ve gone through your YouTube and soundcloud

MB : lol we respect that

Q : I really like your Redbone cover! What other songs would you like to cover?

MB : we always struggle to think of covers, was thinking of sourcing suggestions on Instagram so maybe we'll do that soon

Q : What is thr most difficult song of the creative process for you guys, is it, say, the lyrics, the melody, the mixing?

MB : probably lyrics, it's not that it's HARD but I get very particular about it and sometimes a little slow haha - Mica

Q : i just have to say, i think i've streamed your one song Only If You Want It a million times. it's such a bop and i think it's a great song to introduce people to your work. what was your inspiration for that song and the retro style music video?

MB : yes we think OIYWI really encapsulates what we're aiming to do musically, really glad you like it! Spice Girls, specifically Say You'll Be There, was a huge inspo. We really love that video but didn't have a plan for it AT ALL when we filmed all that footage of me with our vhs cam hahah so it was a mess but then we figured out the word art aesthetic and the bugs and it all came together

Q : How does it feel to be the highlight of my terrible day? Because once I saw the tweet I felt quite a bit better, plus my magbae playlist keeps me calm

MB : Thank you!! We made that cover ourselves so means a lot, and there's a little nod to each mini song in it which is fun

Q : have you ever covered songs that you decided against releasing?

MB : yes lol how did you know?? we did really weird attempts at promiscuous girl and rod stewart's if you think i'm sexy that will never see the light of day

Q : https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/264810236500639745/609503125677670418/magdalenabay.gif

MB : love the gif!!

Q : if a blackpink stan is called a blink is a magdalena bay stan called a mabay

MB : we think magbae is a good stan name

Q : what is the best/worst thing you've guys have encountered so far in the music industry??

MB : best/worst thing we've encountered in the music industry: one of the best things is finding our stuff being posted on r/popheads, we used to have to do it ourselves hahah, worst thing is dealing with shady industry people

Q : Any plans for shows in the Los Angeles area by the end of the year?

MB : re LA shows: we're working on it! probably yes

Q : Oh shoot i just thought of a very very improtany question i must know - Simply : Cats or Dogs

MB : DOGS

much later // we like cats too just dogs more :/

Q : Did you start making music for the fun of it, or did you actually have asperations to be famous?

MB : we started making music back in high school in a rock band and it just evolved from there. I (mica) never thought I would really do this until i had to graduate college and was like wait!!! I don't want a real job!! // Matt always knew he wanted to work in music

Q : magdalena bay, how would you guys describe your songwriting process?

MB : it's pretty different for each song, only thing that stays the same is that we write lyrics after melody, not all writers do that! but a song can start with a beat or chords or sometimes melody, from either of us!

Q : ooh I actually have one more question! what song of yours has the most meaning to you? whether it’s bc of the inspiration behind it or something else

MB : probably some of the unreleased stuff, but you'll hear it soon! a song called airplane is prob the most personal to me (mica)

Q : what artist(s) would you collab with, if you could pick any?

MB : soo many but Rina Sawayama is near the top of our list

Q : If you could travel back in time and impart one piece of advise to your early teenage selves, what would it be?

MB : START MAKING POP SOONER

Q : So do you sit down for hours and work on thinking of melodies or do they come to you randomly and you're like "whelp, time to record"

MB : both definitely happen, iphone voice memos are key

Q : Actually I do have a question, if y'all had a bigger budget, what would you be doing differently?

MB : blackpink-level music videos

Q : Favorite video games?

MB : We've just started playing video games and love zelda twilight princess but we're dumb and bad at it and are always stuck lol

Q : there are several users here in popheads who are trying to get into the music industry, if you have one tip you can give them, what would it be?

MB : try to do everything you can yourself- from music production to videos to graphics you will learn a lot and be less reliant on other people!! and you'll save money haha

Q : If yall dont thats chill but if yoy do whats your fav song from blackpink

MB : we like the one that goes dudududu

Q : Were you ever worried about a song with hashtag as a title/lyric? Or were you just that damn confident?

MB : yes we were worried lol

Q : would you play Minecraft

MB : don't know anything about it but matt's little sister plays it so sure

Q : we spoke about artists you'd like to work with so...what producers do you get inspiration from / would like to work with?

MB : definitely ag cook, Sophie, grimes, toro, also get a lot of influence from the classics like max martin, quincy jones, pharell

Q : What's one thing people might be surprised to learn about the both of you, respectively?

MB : Maybe that we started music playing in a progressive rock band (the opposite of pop) also matt is an amazing chef and mica is argentinian??

Q : if there is one, favourite Britney Spears album/song?

MB : BLACKOUT we listen to it every day

Q : is there any of your progressive rock stuff on the internet 🧐

Also: (you may have answered this already, skip if you have lol) why did you guys make such a genre switch?

MB : Yes but we're not gonna link hahah, and we started making pop because we were at school in different cities and pop is easier to make long distance.... didn't know we'd fall in love with making it! Also mica discovered art angels around that time and that was that

Q : will you continue to be in the server and chat with us? we enjoy having you and hope you'll stick around

MB : thank you!! @hals#0013 yes we'll be around

Q : what do yall liste to outside of pop

MB : NOTHING and with that, goodbye! :heart: :heart: :heart: thanks again!!

[t-baba]

Transcript: Ask the UXperts: Planning and Creating Usable Content — with Melanie Seibert

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting Content Strategist and UX Mastery community member Melanie Seibert in our Slack channel.

Melanie shared her wisdom around planning and creating usable content – content that enhances and supports our designs.

If you didn’t make the session today because you didn’t know about it, make sure you join our community to get updates of upcoming sessions.

If you’re interested in seeing what we discussed, or you want to revisit your own questions, here is a full transcript of the chat.

Transcript

hawk

2017-07-25 22:01

Firstly, a huge thanks to @melanie for her time today. I’m really interested in hearing what she has to say.

hawk

2017-07-25 22:01

For those of you that are new to these sessions, I’ll give you a brief rundown of the process

hawk

2017-07-25 22:02

I’ll intro Melanie and she’ll give us an introduction to the topic

hawk

2017-07-25 22:02

Then I’ll throw it open to you guys for your questions

hawk

2017-07-25 22:02

If things get busy I’ll queue questions in another channel for Melanie, an acknowledge that I have like this

hawk

2017-07-25 22:02

Then she’ll answer as she gets to your place in the queue

hawk

2017-07-25 22:02

So don’t hold back – post your questions any time

hawk

2017-07-25 22:03

I’ll put a full transcript up on http://uxmastery.com tomorrow

hawk

2017-07-25 22:03

So… here’s the formal intro

hawk

2017-07-25 22:03

In her role as Senior Content Strategist at mobile agency WillowTree, Melanie Seibert draws on over 17 years of experience planning and delivering content for interfaces. She has worked for companies that include Razorfish, Rackspace, and Crutchfield, and has taught an introduction to content strategy class at General Assembly.

hawk

2017-07-25 22:03

Today, Melanie supports the WillowTree design team by incorporating content strategy and content design principles into the UX process, helping the team deliver high-quality apps, chatbots, websites, and other digital products to clients. Follow Melanie on Twitter @melanie_seibert, and check out her course Getting Started with Content Strategy. http://ift.tt/2tuYM2n

hawk

2017-07-25 22:04

@melanie Over to you to give us a rundown on content strategy and how it applies to us

melanie

2017-07-25 22:04

OK!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:04

Hi everyone! Happy to be here.Thanks for joining! :wave:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:04

I love UX Mastery and have been following these chats for a while.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:04

:smile:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:04

My name’s Melanie, as Hawk said. And I’m joining you from Virginia, USA. It’s about 6 pm here. :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:04

Content Strategy is a subdiscipline of UX that focuses on planning, creating, delivering, and maintaining, content that’s usable.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:04

We can also add that it includes delivering content to users on any device.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:04

There’s a lot packed into that definition though. :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:05

Content Strategy got really popular around 10 years ago (although it’s been going on longer) when Kristina Halvorson published the book Content Strategy for the Web.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:05

(I’ll link it here for those who want to read more: http://ift.tt/2uCXBA5)

melanie

2017-07-25 22:05

Since then, it’s gained a lot of popularity because a lot of teams were trying to pack content and copywriting into their design process at the end.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:05

And the content would break their designs.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:05

I know my interest in Content Strategy was piqued after a painful content migration. :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:06

Content Strategy seeks to prevent and fix those kinds of hard problems by planning for content throughout the UX process.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:06

It gives you tools for that, and also for knowing what content to create vs. not create.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:06

So it’s a pretty integral part of UX design. And I love it! :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:06

So that’s it for the intro! Would love to take any questions you may have.

hawk

2017-07-25 22:07

Questions are GO.

flaxenink

2017-07-25 22:07

@melanie: as a non content person is there a tool that designers can improve to put in fake copy per day?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:07

@flaxenink Do you mean like “lorem ipsum” copy?

jwager

2017-07-25 22:08

I’m interested in how to best support or encourage (or educate?) other team members in content creation from their realms of expertise.

flaxenink

2017-07-25 22:08

@melanie: yes but not using that anymore.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:08

There are some lorem ipsum generators online, although it’s a bit of a hot topic. :slightly_smiling_face: Oh okay!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:08

So the best advice I can give is to look at what existing content the organization has. If you’re mocking up, say, a blog page, what blog posts have they published in the past?

flaxenink

2017-07-25 22:08

@melanie: able to show decent content to stake holders

melanie

2017-07-25 22:09

Beyond that, I think it’s beneficial to work with a writer who can help you create spec copy. I don’t know of any tool so far that I would recommend.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:09

Maybe with the rise of AI tools, we’ll see one soon!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:09

@jwager asked: I’m interested in how to best support or encourage (or educate?) other team members in content creation from their realms of expertise

flaxenink

2017-07-25 22:09

@melanie: thanks!!!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:09

@jwager that’s a tough one!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:10

I like to encourage people to write BAD FIRST DRAFTS

melanie

2017-07-25 22:10

This advice comes from novelist Anne Lamott.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:10

I had a developer friend who was very hesitant to write, bc he lacked confidence.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:10

When I told him he should just write terrible first drafts, he seemed to really open up.

jwager

2017-07-25 22:10

I work in a technical space and can’t (nor would want) to create all that content myself that would be beneficial to publish!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:10

It helped him to stop editing himself.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:11

Right!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:11

Do you edit the experts’ writing?

jwager

2017-07-25 22:12

There isn’t much writing happening at present. It’s something I know is important and want to figure out

melanie

2017-07-25 22:12

I also like to let people write in whatever medium they’re comfortable in. Google Docs, Pages, Word, etc.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:12

Oh I see

melanie

2017-07-25 22:12

If you can get a high-level stakeholder (manager, exec) on board to explain the benefit to the business, that can help too

melanie

2017-07-25 22:12

I held an interest meeting once for contributors, and it seemed to drum up a lot of interest (redundant, ha).

melanie

2017-07-25 22:13

So: 1. Interest meeting, 2. Executive sponsorship, 3. BAD first drafts!!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:13

TERRIBLE DRAFTS

melanie

2017-07-25 22:13

(As long as someone will edit them. lol)

jwager

2017-07-25 22:14

Cool, I like the collaborative approach

melanie

2017-07-25 22:14

Yes, it works well for us here at WillowTree. We have a crazy amount of technical contributors (http://ift.tt/2uDfgI0)

jwager

2017-07-25 22:15

The book you recommended, is it a good tool for how to create an overall content plan? A model?

janeg

2017-07-25 22:15

What are the most critical issues in content strategy? Today content strategy covers so much. If you had to focus on three critical areas, what would they be?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:15

@jwager: It depends on what you mean by a plan/model (different people mean different things :)). Are you thinking of an editorial calendar?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:16

To plan a schedule of publishing content, for example on a blog

jwager

2017-07-25 22:16

A calendar would be important. I’m thinking of the birds eye view on what we want the content to support. As in, toward our business goals.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:16

Yes!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:17

It’s geared toward a holistic understanding of ALL the organization’s content.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:17

@janeg asked: “What are the most critical issues in content strategy? Today content strategy covers so much. If you had to focus on three critical areas, what would they be?”

jwager

2017-07-25 22:17

Sweet, that’s what I want to learn more about

melanie

2017-07-25 22:17

Wow, love this question

melanie

2017-07-25 22:17

awesome! I think it’ll help! Let me know…

melanie

2017-07-25 22:18

So @janeg one thing that’s really a big topic right now is “content design”

melanie

2017-07-25 22:18

And by that, we mean the “content” part of content strategy: how does the content support the interaction?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:18

It’s not necessarily a NEW idea, but it’s still very much needed. Some companies are still not giving a lot of thought or resources to content.

janeg

2017-07-25 22:18

Thanks! Can you provide an example?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:19

Sure. (Incidentally, Sarah Richards of http://uk.gov writes about this, she’s definitely worth a follow on Twitter!)

melanie

2017-07-25 22:19

So it might be collaborating with a designer to break up a page into sections, using headers so that users can scan for information they need, adding bullets to make the content scannable.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:20

It could be deciding that a dropdown of zip codes is unusable, and the field should be formatted as a text entry field (Sarah uses this example)

janeg

2017-07-25 22:20

Ah, thanks. So collaborating with a UX designer

melanie

2017-07-25 22:20

So right. It’s a little beyond writing, as in the second example.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:20

More, thinking about how content should support whatever the user wants to do

melanie

2017-07-25 22:20

The second issue I’d bring up is reuse: devices are proliferating. Watches, smart fridges, apps, etc. How can we publish to multiple devices?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:20

This is a huge problem.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:21

Fortunately, we’re seeing a lot of new content management system (CMS) technologies to support this.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:21

However, organizations are lagging behind.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:21

Some still have a CMS (and a copy of the content) for each app / website / device.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:21

Which is a huge pain to manage!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:21

Third issue, hmmm.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:22

I would say, with the popularity of content marketing, a little too much emphasis is probably placed on production of MORE content.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:22

without thinking about: who will write it? does it serve the user’s needs?

laura_r

2017-07-25 22:22

YES THIS MY GOODNESS!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:22

So I think we need a little more UX focus on our marketing content :wink:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:22

(I would say this as i’m in UX…)

melanie

2017-07-25 22:23

So: 1. Content design 2. Content reuse 3. A little more strategic focus on marketing content

janeg

2017-07-25 22:23

Thanks so much! This is really helpful

melanie

2017-07-25 22:23

Oh good!!

flaxenink

2017-07-25 22:24

@melanie I work with all content designers and they are so busy so that was I asking about the copy how or what I could use…

flaxenink

2017-07-25 22:24

Any tips

melanie

2017-07-25 22:25

Right @flaxenink – so you were looking for a tool to allow you to easily import fake content into your designs?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:25

Can you give me an example of the type of thing you’re designing? Like, ecommerce website, mobile app, etc

flaxenink

2017-07-25 22:25

@melanie: HA both!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:26

haha

melanie

2017-07-25 22:26

I just remembered this tool. If you use InVision, apparently there is a Craft plugin that brings real data into your design. I’ve never used it, but might be worth a look! http://ift.tt/2uYSJYR

melanie

2017-07-25 22:27

I don’t know of anything else right off!

hawk

2017-07-25 22:27

I have a q: What traits make a good Content Strategist?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:28

Ah

melanie

2017-07-25 22:28

1. Adaptable! You have to be willing to fill in some gaps.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:28

Content Strategists might have to help out with IA, taxonomy, project management.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:28

So they need to be willing to fill in where needed.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:28

2. Humble! Sometimes you have to work with experts to get information.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:28

You can’t be afraid to “look stupid.” Ask the “dumb” questions.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:29

Chances are, others are asking those same questions in their minds and are too afraid to speak up. :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:29

3. Curious! Especially in a tech environment.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:29

It really helps to be able to dig into technical details about a tool or technology.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:29

Especially since they’re always changing (see the discussion of content management systems above.)

crystal

2017-07-25 22:30

This past May was the first I heard about UX Writing and UX Writer as a job title. I haven’t understood where this fits in with Content Strategy. Is UX Writing it’s own independent field or a subset of content strategy? Is it just another fuzzy term for the same thing?

tzhao

2017-07-25 22:30

@melanie, I could not agree with you more, especially the #2. Without it, it will impose a challenge.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:30

@crystal You are very observant!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:30

UX writing is, I would say, a subset of Content Strategy.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:30

Content Strategy has 2 components: content tasks, and people tasks

melanie

2017-07-25 22:31

The “content” tasks are where you would put UX writing.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:31

So yes! UX writing is a part of it. And I would even say that “UX writing” and “content design” are synonyms for the same thing.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:31

Oh I guess I should mention the “people” tasks…

melanie

2017-07-25 22:32

Above, I said that often organizations want to publish MORE CONTENT without thinking about who and how

melanie

2017-07-25 22:32

So a Content Strategist can help them to map out workflows, so they know what their content approval process will be

melanie

2017-07-25 22:32

Or list all their channels (social media, websites, apps, etc) so they know what content they have…

melanie

2017-07-25 22:32

It’s amazing how many companies don’t even know what they’re publishing :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:33

But that’s a bit of a tangent :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:33

I like this image by Kristina Halvorson that describes what Content Strategy entails: http://ift.tt/2uDqKeR

crystal

2017-07-25 22:33

I see. That helps! Thanks!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:33

Sure!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:33

(UX writing would go on the left side of that diagram IMO)

hawk

2017-07-25 22:34

Who else has questions? Now is a good time. We’re at the end of the queue.

hawk

2017-07-25 22:34

Tough crowd! Ok, I’ll jump in with another one. :wink:

hawk

2017-07-25 22:34

The title of this session is planning and creating USABLE content

hawk

2017-07-25 22:35

what makes content usable?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:35

Good one!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:35

I define usable content as having 3 traits:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:35

(I’m doing a lot of lists of 3s… it’s not intentional! haha)

melanie

2017-07-25 22:35

1. It’s findable. Especially on the web, people must be able to find it in search engines.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:36

That means removing the content clutter from our websites.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:36

It can really mess up users’ search results.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:36

It also means using relevant terms that the user will understand. Not necessarily just how the business talks.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:36

2. It’s actionable.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:36

Digital content is a little different from print, because users spend so much time inhabiting a digital ecosystem, of which content is a huge component.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:37

That’s why it’s so important for digital content to be actionable—there is usually an online action for the user to take.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:37

In contrast, print content (think about instructional sheets or user manuals) usually doesn’t have a direct action for the user to take inside the content’s ecosystem (unlike digital).

melanie

2017-07-25 22:37

3. It’s understandable.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:37

This is where good writing comes in. Whether you call it “content design” or “UX writing.” :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:37

To me, those 3 things make content usable.

hawk

2017-07-25 22:38

Cool, thanks.

ct

2017-07-25 22:38

q: I’ve often seen how content can end up as as secondary discussion when it comes to product dev. Can you share your content strategy workflow experience when it comes to working with big teams? Specifically where/when content strategy planning discussions occur in agile environments that often have established communication flows between dev and design teams and not necessarily with the editorial or content teams.

laura_r

2017-07-25 22:39

I work with academics and researchers and go around and around on what “understandable” is. There’s a bunch of info out there on that topic (yay – I’m not alone), but am curious how you handle those types of divides.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:39

ct: Yes, this is a common problem I think.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:39

@ct Ideally, the conversations with editorial teams should happen at the beginning of the project, and throughout the project.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:40

Often I have received a request to edit an error message or button text at the end of the project, and I always ask a million questions. :smile:

ct

2017-07-25 22:40

totally!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:40

It’s important for the writer/content strategist to know about the user and product to be able to write efficiently

lynne

2017-07-25 22:40

If there are several very different audiences accessing the content, how do you ensure it is usable for everyone?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:41

So the best projects I’ve worked on were ones where the editorial team was in the daily standup with dev and design. And content came before design (or at least was being created concurrent with design).

melanie

2017-07-25 22:41

I don’t know if we did “agile” differently from you :smile: I’m not sure if that’s what you meant.

ct

2017-07-25 22:41

@melanie that’s a whole other discussion :slightly_smiling_face: Thank you, that was helpful

melanie

2017-07-25 22:42

@laura_r asked: “I work with academics and researchers and go around and around on what “understandable” is. There’s a bunch of info out there on that topic (yay – I’m not alone), but am curious how you handle those types of divides. (edited)”

melanie

2017-07-25 22:42

Gosh that’s hard.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:42

I mean, the best thing is to do user testing, of course.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:42

It’s really helpful if you can watch a user struggle to understand something! It really bolsters your argument.

laura_r

2017-07-25 22:42

Then they start asking about p values! :smile:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:42

oh dear lol

laura_r

2017-07-25 22:43

ooooooh – i like the idea of them seeing it in real time.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:43

Have you tried showing them Jared Spool’s or NNG’s information about how you only need 5 users? (that’s right, i think? lol)

melanie

2017-07-25 22:43

I seem to remember it being 5ish

melanie

2017-07-25 22:43

Yeah, qualitative, moderated testing helps with that.

laura_r

2017-07-25 22:43

5 ish is what I remember as well

melanie

2017-07-25 22:43

I don’t think it’s a question of “are ALL of our users struggling with this term?”

melanie

2017-07-25 22:44

If you can make it better for 2% of your users, why not?

laura_r

2017-07-25 22:44

totally

melanie

2017-07-25 22:44

Maybe you can try that argument. :wink:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:44

Especially if that doesn’t degrade the experience for the more savvy users.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:44

If it does, then you have to navigate the tradeoff, which is pretty tough.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:44

But we really seem to overestimate the level of expertise of our users/readers!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:45

Most expert users don’t mind if the copy is a bit simple. Or having to click through to get to more detail.

laura_r

2017-07-25 22:45

I agree

melanie

2017-07-25 22:45

But inexpert users will really be stumped by something that’s too jargony.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:45

I know I’m preaching to the choir :smile:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:45

@lynne asks: “If there are several very different audiences accessing the content, how do you ensure it is usable for everyone?”

melanie

2017-07-25 22:46

Hmm. I think when you say “everyone” you mean “all the disparate audiences” right?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:46

Not like, everyone :smile:

lynne

2017-07-25 22:46

Yes!

wendy

2017-07-25 22:46

@melanie how can people become content strategists? Is there a catch 22 similar to what people trying to break into ux Design experience?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:47

So, I’ve worked in situations where we had different paths for different users to take.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:47

It can be as obvious as segmenting by “doctors,” “patients,” etc on a health care website. (That’s common.)

melanie

2017-07-25 22:47

Or it can be asking what problem the user is trying to solve

melanie

2017-07-25 22:48

When I worked at Rackspace, we had this issue. Some users were very technical, some were just mom and pops who needed to host a site for their business.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:48

We ended up surfacing a couple different paths on the homepage. An option for large enterprises looking for cloud computing, and an option for small businesses looking for simple hosting (for example).

melanie

2017-07-25 22:49

Now how you word that will be different depending on your business. I recommend using terms the user would use when they think, “I have this problem to solve.”

melanie

2017-07-25 22:49

Like, “I want to host an ecommerce website.”

melanie

2017-07-25 22:49

Rather than whatever jargon the business uses. Does that help?

melanie

2017-07-25 22:50

@wendy asks: “how can people become content strategists? Is there a catch 22 similar to what people trying to break into ux Design experience?”

melanie

2017-07-25 22:50

Hm, interesting. I don’t think it’s quite as bad, to be honest.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:51

Because existing content strategists all come from various fields. I know one content strategist who was a developer. Most were writers or editiors. So there’s more understanding that “no one starts their career as a Content Strategist” (at least not yet). :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:51

So I will recommend a few things.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:51

First, read books. The Halvorson book (Content Strategy for the Web) is indispensable for anyone wanting to do Content Strategy within UX (rather than marketing).

melanie

2017-07-25 22:52

Second, there is a conference called Confab that is excellent. If you can go, I recommend. (If you can’t pay, see if you can volunteer and attend for free!)

melanie

2017-07-25 22:52

Anther thing is, I have a free 7-day email course called Become a Content Strategist

lynne

2017-07-25 22:52

Thanks. It’s interesting because I’d learnt that segmenting by audience was generally a bad idea, but I can definitely see how it would help in this kind of situation.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:52

It gives you some tips for starting to practice Content Strategy right away.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:52

You can sign up at my website: http://prosekiln.com

melanie

2017-07-25 22:53

TBH I’ve heard that too. I just don’t have any other great solutions.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:53

We wrestled with it quite a bit. lol

wendy

2017-07-25 22:53

Great, thanks so much for the tips, @melanie

melanie

2017-07-25 22:53

Sure!

laura_r

2017-07-25 22:54

i never thought to try and volunteer at ConFab – great idea!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:54

The Content Strategy community is very welcoming. Honestly I would jump on Twitter and follow a bunch of folks, like Rachel Lovinger, Halvorson, Jeff Eaton, Kate Kiefer Lee, Hilary Marsh, Colleen Jones. That should get you started!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:54

Sadly I can’t take credit. That idea comes from my friend Hilary Marsh. :slightly_smiling_face:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:55

And they love to talk about it, so you can ask questions.

laura_r

2017-07-25 22:55

Well thank you both!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:55

There is also a UX + Content Slack that’s run by Michael Metts – Google will lead you to a form to fill out.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:55

Oh! and the Content Strategists group on Facebook!

melanie

2017-07-25 22:55

You’re welcome! :smile:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:56

http://ift.tt/1bmOBAP

melanie

2017-07-25 22:56

Lots of opportunities to read, engage, and ask questions. :smile:

hawk

2017-07-25 22:57

Awesome. We have about 3 mins left. Does anyone have any urgent qs that haven’t been answered?

hawk

2017-07-25 22:57

Nope? Ok, we might call this a wrap!

hawk

2017-07-25 22:57

Again, thanks so much @melanie for your time.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:57

Wow that went by fast! Thanks for having me. :smile:

melanie

2017-07-25 22:58

anyone with further questions is welcome to find me on here. I’m on Slack constantly.

melanie

2017-07-25 22:58

:wink:

hawk

2017-07-25 22:58

And to everyone else, if you want to learn more, here’s that link to Melanie’s course again: http://ift.tt/2tuYM2n

hawk

2017-07-25 22:58

Thanks to everyone else for joining us today. :slightly_smiling_face:

The post Transcript: Ask the UXperts: Planning and Creating Usable Content — with Melanie Seibert appeared first on UX Mastery.

by Sarah Hawk via UX Mastery http://ift.tt/2v0x02t