VM10: Working In Pen

The Week Ahead

The days are getting longer and warmer where I live, which perversely has me feeling nostalgic for the cold, dark days of winter. What can I say? I love the cozy, quiet feeling those days can impart. Which is nonsense, of course. Nobody's stopping me from having a cozy, quiet evening when the days are warm. So consider this your sign to shake off a false choice you've been clinging to, too. You can have these nice things. And those nice things, too.

Do you prefer Scrabble or crossword puzzles? You can choose only one.

I personally was never much one for Scrabble, but I do love a crossword.

I love the inherent solvability of a crossword. There’s a right answer, there's only one right answer, and everything fits. When you’re done, it’s so satisfying. Every square has been filled.

I was in my early 20s when I discovered crosswords. I had just started grad school, and was spending all my time in this one great coffee shop. Because of course I was. School is overrated. Coffee shops rule. You meet the best people in them.

I met Bruce at this coffee shop. He made the coffee, served the sandwiches and snacks. When he wasn’t slinging shots of espresso, he’d sit down and work a crossword, while I ate my bagel nearby.

He always made me eat a bagel after a bad day. A bagel makes it better. That's what he'd say. And you know what? He was right. Bagels do make it better.

It was Bruce who told me to always do my crossword puzzles in pen. I'd picked up the habit from him, so he felt he could give me advice.

Crosswords can smell fear, he’d say. You have to show them who’s boss.

At work, I solve little crossword puzzles all day.

What’s a short way of saying no thank you, not now? No more than 8 characters, please.

What’s a warm, friendly way of saying you entered that wrong? Two words, max. 

I love it. It's such a fun challenge to make it all work. 

But with crosswords, there’s only one right solution. You know you got it right when you solve the puzzle, or — worst case — check the answer key.

How do writers like us know when we’ve hit the nail on the head? Well, you know the answer. When we achieve the result.

We’re always trying to help the user and the business achieve their goals. Ideally, those two goals overlap. Sometimes they don't (awkward, I know). But usually, we're working for that sweet overlap. Can we help both the business and the user get what they need?

The choices we make stand or fall based on whether those goals are met.

Content design: It only works if it works.

I know, all kinds of business writers are judged by outcomes. Marketers, technical writers, course designers, comms and PR — we've all got those metrics that we've got to hit. We need to inform, educate, persuade, build trust, convey voice, and incite action... always with that word count hanging over our heads. 

The other day I described what I do to a friend as the writing equivalent of boiling a whole pot of soup down into one bouillon cube. All that flavor, all that nutrition, packed into one little box.

It's so tempting to let others judge us by the number of words we produce. Whether we're writing 800-word blog posts or two-word CTAs, that word count tends to be what the nonwriter sees.

We know we make meaning. We know we create change.

But there's a disconnect, still, in most organizations. Like some of us are playing Scrabble, and some of us are doing crossword puzzles. And those folks over there? They think Sudoku is fun.

Well, I don't know if crosswords can smell fear, but I know humans can. 

There's a lot of fear in our industry these days. Fear of being laid off. Of not getting promoted. Or not getting hired in the first place.

I've always heard that the antidote to fear is action. So here's an action I think we all can take.

Work in pen.

Stand by the worth of your work. Insist on its value in no uncertain terms. 

What we do is make change. We change how people think, how they act, what they do.

If we're driving results, then we're creating change. We're persuading, informing, inspiring people to do something new. All in just a few words. That's pretty cool.

How can you work in pen more? Here are some clues:

• Choose your own measures of success. Use your own yardstick. Cover it in graffiti and glitter. Wave that thing around.
• Love your successes. Flirt with them, dance with them, send love notes on the hour. Put your wins on repeat like Taylor Swift songs. 
• Make friends with your failures. Link up arms with them and sing loud, lusty duets with them as you wander home late at night.
• Don't spend another hot second of your time wondering if you're allowed to be here. You are. This place would be so boring without you. Come over here and sit next to me. Do you have a pen?

And try a bagel. Bagels do make it better. You know it's true.