How we write copy
Beliefs
Edutainment-first
Our contribution to society—our art—is edutainment. The act of making things that help people grow through enjoyment. If a script is “cool sounding” but doesn’t facilitate learning while also being enjoyable to them to read, it’s not edutainment, it's not our art, and it's not for us. Everything we produce should live at that intersection: things that help people "grow through fun," however they define fun or enjoyment.
Clarity beats cleverness
Commercial writing loves to hide behind fancy words. Sensationalism. Bravado. Complexity.
All things that readers don't love. For that reason among others, we don't write like that. These things don't help readers. They're like rain in the wind, obscuring their view, making it harder to determine what's really being said. They impress brand owners and confuse readers. When in doubt, be as clear as possible.
Write for humans in their moment
Readers are at a moment in time. We know, as authors, how their story is likely to unfold if they proceed with the buyer experience we're preparing for them. But they don't. Not quite like we do. Not yet.
So prattling on about what we know to be true, while it remains one of a million potential futures to them, does them no service. What they want, is to be seen in their moment. To know we understand what it's like to be right there, where they stand, today. Yes, that we know what their dream outcome looks like… And yes, that we see the path between the two places… And yes, that we understand their unique sense of humor and their unique ideas of "enjoyment". But that we are able to be in this moment, and help them into their next moment.
Writing in this way means we use their language. Language they use in searches and prompts. Language filled with tell-tale signs that we're not imposters, that we're there with them. Language that, as it happens, also helps with SEO, LLM discovery, trust, and conversion.
Comfy but with personality
Our work should feel comfortable and familiar to the people it’s for. Modern, simple, and recognizable within their world. That's not an excuse for generic or soulless. Rather, it's a call to meet them where they are, before we take them somewhere else.
“Comfy” means familiar vernacular, shared in-jokes, sensible spacing, and avoiding things that make users stop and think “wait, what are they talking about? Is this not for me?” “Personality” means warmth, intentional quirks, and decisions that feel thoughtful and delightful, rather than templated. Our goal is not to impress other writers. Our goal is to make the right people feel at ease, curious, and engaged, and as though they're going to enjoy exploring this further (however they define "enjoy").
Less but better
We favor fewer words, executed with more care, over many paragraphs executed poorly. We can do a lot with a little, if those few pieces are excellent.
The details matter: consistent pacing. Restrained, intentional reading age. Semantic written structure that feels easy to skim yet easy to dive into. Repetition of patterns so users can feel concepts resolving, like good music. If we're going to include something in the page, it needs a darn good reason for being there, beyond "it sounds cool" or "I saw a competitor say it". If it doesn’t serve the experience, it doesn’t belong.
Not for everyone
Our work is not designed to please everyone. It is crafted for the defined target audience, and people one degree removed from them. If a copywriting decision improves clarity, comfort, or enjoyment for the intended audience but might confuse or alienate others, that's totally okay, and often desirable. Trying to make work that pleases everyone usually results in work that excites no one.
Process
Rough
The first step is to see it. The rough lets us compose from the ideas throughout the blueprint and the audience's narrative, and feel the shape of the script, before we go through the process of actually writing it. This is useful for obvious reasons: we can write confidently, without anxiety about whether it's going where we want it to go, and without stabbing at ideas in hope they resolve properly.
Sanity check
At this stage, copy and design review the progress to ensure we're in scope. We change the shape of the work if not, then proceed with the production process.
Draft 1
With an approved rough, we can start assembling the first draft. This draft is a "wireframe", where we have each section of the experience spoken for, in roughly the right length, in roughly the right pace. We're not really editing nor polish yet, we're making sure everything fits where it goes, and still feels good as things move from sketchy concepts to real written form. We don't tend to secure partner feedback at this stage, since it's tricky to give feedback on "the shape of a narrative" without experience with the copywriting process. This draft collects internal feedback needed to produce Draft 2.
Draft 2
This draft is the near-final, unfinished version of the script. The copy isn't done, it isn't dialed in, but if you metaphorically lean back and squint your eyes, it basically reads like the finished piece. This is a stage we share with partners for feedback, with the note that it is medium-fidelity, not finished-finished, it's still malleable for their feedback, so they can sign off on the page coming together as they'd like. The disclaimer is important, so that nobody conflates "in progress" materials with "proposed final" materials.
Final draft
The final draft is the final version of the copy. All sections of the page, from core text to microcopy, is both present and polished. Once this is approved, there should be no further tweaks to make in order to progress over to the handover stage.
Handover
With final draft approved, at this stage we get things ready for design to take over. Everything is uploaded to Basecamp, with a write-up guiding designers "what goes where" so there's no ambiguity around how to use the script. Designers should then have everything they need to build the design, with the final result properly representing the vision behind the words.
Tools
What we use, and why we use them.
Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Basecamp Docs
Word for long-form writing without the need to collaborate. Google Docs for collaborative writing. Basecamp Docs for handover and review / final edits. Word used since the late 90s. Google Docs used since 2006. Basecamp used since 2010.
Final Draft
While you can write script anywhere that accepts keyboard input, and fountain-focused apps like Slugline are great, Final Draft is the industry standard, its beat board tools really work well in our production workflows, and it integrates nicely with Storyboard Pro. Used since 2023 (Previously: iA Writer since 2010, TextEdit since 2005, Notepad since 2000).
Technical checks
Things we always do.
Check the handover
Before handing work over, ensure everything meets the brief. Verify that persona, pacing, tone and direction are defined clearly. Mark in each section of the script what goes where. Designers should never need to guess or recreate copywriting decisions.
Check the brief at every stage
Sometimes a good idea can become a bad idea, if it loses sight of the goal it’s trying to achieve, and for whom. So checking the goal in each stage helps prevent that from happening, or from a misdirection from carrying on too long through the process.
Artist vs paintbrush
Know, going into a design, whether you’re being the artist or the paintbrush. When you’re the artist, you’re conceiving the solution. When you’re the paintbrush, you’re expressing a prescribed solution. Neither is right or wrong, good or bad. Just know which one you are in this specific design, contributing fully within those parameters.
Pride-check
When the work is done, are you truly proud of the work we’ve done? Truly? If it shipped like this today, which parts would haunt you, or make you think “hm, maybe that part there shouldn’t feature in the team portfolio”, or lower the perceived quality of the whole experience? If able, raise these areas as concerns before the work ships. We should be proud of the work we do.
Collaborate with those working one degree from you
If you’re designing a webpage, you’re 1 degree from the designer who builds it, 1 degree from the designer, 1 degree from the artists creating graphics, and 1 degree from the person leading the project. This means you should liaise with those people, ensuring you have everything you need from them, and they have everything they need from you. Be the collaborator you wish everyone else was: be clear and thorough in your communication, prompt and proactive in your responses, and go the extra mile to make things buttery-smooth when they deal with you. The copywriting is on you to be the best it can be, so go get what you need, and go give them what they need, so the finished result can be as great as it can be.
Technical no-gos
Things we never do.
Don’t skip steps
Some of the steps may feel superfluous sometimes, but the work is better when we stick to them. So stick to them.
Don’t ship to partners without peer-review
We’re only human: sometimes a second pair of eyes can be invaluable in spotting things you became blind to due to exposure to the work. Have someone peer-review it, to where they put their name to the deliverable’s quality too. Two sets of eyes committed to the work are better than one.
Don’t assume others know what you’re thinking
Copy should feel obvious, but it feels most obvious to the writer. Where does that piece of copy go? Which modal window is that for? What should be written on that button? Obvious to you, in your mind’s eye, intuiting each user interaction. Not obvious to others, unless it’s either written up. So write it up. Leave no space for assumptions.
Don’t miss deadlines
If we have deadlines, do not miss them. That means proactive communication around your work to ensure you have everything you need in good time, managing your schedule to comfortably meet the deadlines even if multiple rounds of revisions show up, and over-communicating about how things are going on your side of things, so that everybody can see movement and not worry about whether or not you dropped the ball. If a deadline is under threat, communicate it as early as possible—as soon as you suspect it may be. That gives the team time to assess what to do about that: let a partner know if there is one, cut scope to make it fit, increase support on the project so there are more hands working on it, or simply resolve to push through and find the time to make it work if the scope nor the budget can shift, and there is no one else who can jump in to support.
Don’t work in chaos
The writing process can be messy at times. But a craftsman always leaves his desk in order. Your working files and references should be clearly labelled and neatly organized, so that anyone who works on the copy in future can easily find what they’re looking for. Any requests you made should have a follow-up scheduled so you don’t forget (either make a to-do for yourself for that, or snooze an email notification about it, whatever works best for you) so nothing slips through the cracks. Stay organized, so you (or worse, others) don’t have to work in chaos.