{"id":537,"date":"2025-07-03T11:30:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T10:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/?p=537"},"modified":"2025-07-03T09:27:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T08:27:14","slug":"faith-and-pauls-pair-writing-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/2025\/07\/03\/faith-and-pauls-pair-writing-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith and Paul\u2019s pair-writing adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Pair-writing can be challenging, but it\u2019s a great way for subject experts and content experts to collaborate and learn from each other while creating effective web pages. <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We recently did some pair writing with staff from the Sustainability <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">team and<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> wanted to share <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">our experiences and the <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">benefits we found from pair writing with subject experts.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">What better way to talk about pair writing than writing as a pair! Over to you Paul...<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Paul.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<span data-contrast=\"auto\">S<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">o,<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> it occurs to me, Faith, that this was our first real experience of pair writing with people not in our team. For anyone reading this who is as new to it as we were, how would you describe what pair writing involves?\u00a0 <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Faith.<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> Pair writing is when two people with different roles sit together to work on a piece of content. In this case, we, as Content Designers, each sat with a member of the Sustainability team.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> They, as the subject experts, helped us with the facts and information, and we advised them on how best to structure the web page and make it easy to understand, along with making the content accessible, of course! Paul, can you tell the readers how this pair writing project came about?<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Paul.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Of course. <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Sustainability <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">team<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> wanted to<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">:<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">d<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">evelop <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">existing and <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">new content<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> about how researchers can make their research (<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">in whatever field) more <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">sustainable<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">pin all this new and updated content to a topic page, making it easy for researchers to find the information they need<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Alice and Rachel \u2013 our subject experts \u2013 had already <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">done a lot of the <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">groundwork and<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> had a hierarchy of pages. Some would b<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">lend content from two old pages together; others would need to be written from scratch, and some required little more than a review and <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">the updated team title. Now that it was time to <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">create and edit content on th<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">e website itself, they wanted our input, and we thought it could be <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">a great opportunity<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> to do some pair writing: <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">they\u2019d<\/span> <span data-contrast=\"auto\">join us in the office for a two<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">-week sprint, and <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">we\u2019d<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> work on the content together<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. In this way, <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">we\u2019d<\/span> <span data-contrast=\"auto\">blend<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> their<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> vision for their content and<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> in-depth <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">knowledge of their subject with our kn<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">owledge of content design,<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> accessibility,\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">and <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">our<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> publishing platform<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, Typecase<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">But! <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">How wo<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">uld they feel about spending two weeks with you and me<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> constantly saying things like<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, \u201cWell, yes, that\u2019s good, but have you thought about\u2026\u201d? Would we <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">ask one too many boneheaded questions about sustainability<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> and watch as they marched off, laptops tucked under their arms? <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In short, would they accept our invitation and <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">how would it all go?\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Well, it would be <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">a very short<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> blog post if they had said \u2018no<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u2019,<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> so <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">that\u2019s<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> answered, but how did it go for you, Faith? And what did you <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">like about the experience<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">?\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Faith. <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">I think the whole pair writing experience went very well. Firstly, Rachel had a good understanding of Typecase and our guidance already, which really helped when creating content. She was very open to feedback and even reminded me about how to use our guidance a couple of times!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As you and I had never tried pair writing before, I was apprehensive about how it would go. But once we got stuck in, I found that it was a great opportunity to put the content design and digital accessibility skills I\u2019ve learned over the past year into practice. It was interesting learning new things about sustainability and climate action too. How about you, Paul, what did you enjoy about our pair writing experience?<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Paul.<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> Just like Rachel, Alice really knew what she wanted to achieve \u2013 which helps enormously \u2013 <\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">and <\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">clearly uses Typecase a lot. So, while it\u2019s not essential for pair writing partners to be confident with Typecase, working with Alice and Rachel felt much more like a balanced collaboration than it might have done. That was great as discussions involved a lot of suggestions, thoughtful pushback, and playing with opportunities to use Typecase\u2019s features creatively.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">And, I\u2019m not going to lie \u2013 it feels good to share little bits of Typecase knowledge that you\u2019re not even aware others don\u2019t know. For example, the fact that if you hover the mouse cursor over the bottom right corner of a body text box in the Typecase edit screen, you can drag it to make it bigger (and see all your copy rather than just a portion of it).\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Lastly, I liked that pair writing gave me ample opportunity to explore and question my own Typecase knowledge: have I been underusing this (or that) component? When <\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">does<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> copy stop being suitable for a Guide page and become a perfect fit for a Campaign page?\u00a0 When, if ever, is bold copy acceptable on a page? Long story longer, I think I emerged from the sprint a bit better at my job because I\u2019d spent a good amount of the previous two weeks having to bring embedded knowledge out into the open and either justify it, or update it.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Okay, I\u2019ve waffled on far too long. My last question for you, Faith! Was there anything that you\u2019d do differently next time we pair write with people from outside our own team?\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Faith.<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> Generally, I think the whole experience was very successful, but for next time, I think it would be helpful to discuss the subject matter more before we start pair writing. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As I wasn\u2019t very familiar with the topic of sustainability here at Bath, it was hard to edit parts of the content and there were particular things like measurements and technical terms that Rachel and I had written differently to you and Alice. So next time it would be good to make sure we\u2019re all on the same page before we start working together.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Is there anything you\u2019d do differently next time?<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Paul.<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> I agree with everything you\u2019ve said, particularly when it comes to knowing more about the team\u2019s pages before we started working with them. Having grounded ourselves in their content more beforehand would have certainly freed up more of my brain for content-related advice<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">However<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, the fact of the matter is that coming to a<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> subject area <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">as a relative lay person does have its advantages<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> when it comes to pair writi<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">ng. By obliging the subject expert<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> to <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">articulate their deep knowledge in simple terms<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, it:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">e<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">ncourages <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">them to <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">focus <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">on the <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">essential information<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> a page requires<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">reduces the use of jargon <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">minimises<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> the amount of assumed knowledge <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">required<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> to understand the content \u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">helps them focus on using plain English <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, maybe sitting with a little discomfort and working through it is all part of what makes an effective pair-writing project! In any event, I hope we get to do it again before too long.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Faith. <\/strong>I think you've hit the nail on the head there. That's great advice to take with us into our next pair writing experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pair-writing can be challenging, but it\u2019s a great way for subject experts and content experts to collaborate and learn from each other while creating effective web pages. We recently did some pair writing with staff from the Sustainability team and...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1613,"featured_media":538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39,29,23],"tags":[26,51],"class_list":["post-537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessibility","category-content-design","category-copywriting","tag-content-writing","tag-pair-writing"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/188\/2025\/06\/50547987511_a7b8b06955_b.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1613"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/digital-content-and-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}