March 2010 Archives

Write about your web site of choice for the final project. Select three separate pages from the web site and tell us what you think you might want to revise. Refer to Redish chapters and Yale Style Guide where relevant.

I'll be revising my company's website, www.spectrumhomeservices.com, for the final project.

Summary
The company provides residential home services such as maintenance, lawn care, housekeeping and snow removal. While these services are listed in some manner on the site, the message could have a much greater impact with adjustments toward Ginny Redish' suggestions.

Redish Rules
In Letting Go of the Words, Ginny Redish details the three main considerations when composing a website.

Good web writing is like a conversation
The Spectrum Home Services (SHS) site does utilize some helpful organizational elements such as menus and sequenced information structure, but the information is merely placed on the site without any connection between the elements. The site may benefit from statements such as: "For the interior of your home, consider the following options...cleaning, remodeling, etc." and "When the seasons change, we'll be there for your lawn, snow removal, etc." As it is now, the information seems to have been dumped on the page without consideration for unity.

Good web writing answers people's questions
The SHS pages frequently feature dense paragraphs of writing that showcase current services and news events in lieu of helpful description of the actual services offered by the company. For instance, there may be an article about the latest trends in lawn care featured ABOVE the actual description of what the company does in terms lawn care applications.

Good web writing lets people "grab and go."
The SHS site eventually lists brief descriptions of its services, but doesn't offer in-depth descriptions following the brief listings. The items are not hyperlinked and only offer one or two word descriptions. Normally, a reader searches for something specific, finds it, then "grabs" it to learn more about that specific service. That's not available on the SHS site.

Conclusion
The site could benefit over these three areas with an effective application of pictures symbolizing each service. The images could be hyperlinked to more descriptive landing pages allowing the user to learn more about their interest.

How do YouTube and Podcasts change our understanding of "writing" on the web? How is writing different for video? Include a link in your blog entry.

The difference between traditional writing and writing for broadcast is the amount of content left out of the text and relegated to the intonation of the medium. Literature requires a description of everything the writer wants the reader to experience. When a writer writes for audio, they can leave out "the character screamed" or "a bell tolled in the distance." The intonation expresses the sentiment on its own accord.

Still, audio depends on a description through dialogue or narrative. Writing for video requires less descriptive text, but more "behind the scenes" writing in the manner of screenplay.

Opening slowly, the creaking door reveals the stalker's shadow.

Butler: Who goes there?
Stalker: I'm early.

The butler reaches for the broken broom handle...a moment too late.

In it's original "book" format, the writing would have moved with a fuller description.

Opening slowly, the creaking door revealed the stalkers shadow. Hearing the creak, the butler tensed calling "Who goes there?" The stalker rasped from her slight opening "I'm early." She heard his waistcoat billow as he moved toward the broom handle. Through the ink of the parlor shadow, she silently leaped across the room. The broken broom handle, liberated from it's hiding place hours before, splintered across the butler's knee with a crisp pop.

Audio & video change the writer's literary approach based on what the writer is describing and for whom.