[thelist] Writing for the Web (fwd)

[the head lemur]

================================
I have a client that is going to embark on a mission to bring more
    interesting information to their clients by interviewing and reviewing
    materials specific to their industry.
======================================
Good for Them!!
Too many Industry sites drone on about the mission statement and bios of the
industry board of directors.

Re: Jakob
Jakob's note was written in 1997.
On the web in 1997 we were beginning in the infancy of development and
presentation. There were not many good writers then, there are not many good
writers now. I count myself in the latter category.

There are no rules for writing on the web outside of laws on slander, libel,
plagerism and copyright infringment.
Spelling, punctuation, and proper sentence structure are helpful.

Be as long winded as you want to.
Be brief.
Be pedantic.
In my case I will be pedantic:)

My rules.

1. Be truthful

(however painful that may be-there is no industry without warts)

2. link to source materials

(nothing else can enhance ones reputation as being a credible source of
news/opinion more than providing links to the source materials you based
your articles on. This has the added benefit of providing a floor for
continuing dialog on issues as everybody hopefully has followed the links,
understands how your article got it's life and has the same information you
have for continuing a dialog. Which can promote the client, the industry and
maybe even you for being so perceptive.

Failure in this area will relegate your clients offerings to the edges of
the web next door to the 'elvis is alive and living in my garage' sites)

3. Limit your explorations/interviews to three or less points.


(You want to engage your visitors, not club them over the head.

not doing this will keep you writing until the heat death of the universe as
you squeeze in just one more point or link which will require one more point
or link...

Trust me on this one, for every published article I have, my harddrive
contains 15 or so on the same points, that are v a s t l y larger ;)

Enough about me.

Styles that work:

The Associated Press who has been writing news for years published a guide
book for writing news.
http://www.ap.org/pages/order.html#reference
(send money or visit your local library)

This style is known as 'top down'
The first paragraph presents a synopsis and conclusion of the article, the
subsequent paragraphs provide supporting in depth information to support the
first paragraph.


Marketing calls this  the "value proposition". The value proposition is
designed to entice you follow the argument as to why the proposition is
valuable and to entice you to buy into the product/service being proposed.
(which may account in no small part for using sex or the promise of it to
sell cars and snowblowers)

Despite it's uses and abuses it is a very good method for presenting
information.

Styles that are developing:

On the web for 'interviews' a couple of different styles bear examination.

As you mentioned the traditional interview style leaves a lot to be desired.
The questions are usually formulated to elicit responses to make the
interviewer look good or to promote the company line. Which is not bad, but
needs to be examined in terms of impartality. The link below is an
interesting examination of impartiality.

The Failure of Tech Journalism
http://www.netslaves.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=005&action=display&num=9
98801687

The Slashdot Carnival Method
The slashdot 'ask your questions and get answers' is a much more interactive
method as the members of the community  are the interviewers.
http://slashdot.org/index.pl?section=interviews

the Zeldman Web Standards interview is a case in point demonstrating the
good and bad points of this technique. Some interesting questions were asked
and a flame session over the color orange also developed.

Bulletin Board Forums
These offers interactivity, topicality, and a measure of control depending
on administration.

Fathom5
http://www.fathom5.org/discussion/wwwthreads.php?Cat=

This is an example of industry segment specific bulletin board.
http://www.ciclink.com/dbinfo/dblist.htm

Last but not least is our very own Evolt.

(disclosure: yes i have sneaked a few articles in here)
<plug type="shameless">
Built by and for pixel mechanics, but not limited to what is inside the HTML
document.
Containing as far as I know every note, rant, and email since it was born.
Indexed, Categorized, Searchable, Archived and having the finest group of
folks that have email addresses.
</plug>

the head lemur
Web Standards
http://www.webstandards.org
Evolt
http://www.evolt.org
lemurzone
http://www.lemurzone.com