Jeffrey Zeldman: Writing the User Interface

boingboing.net Design? No. Content. Yes.

• Base Camp: Project Management
• Writing budgets! Content czars. Content is KEY.
• Design helps people read less. When people read less, every word counts.
• Copy is often the cheapest part of your site to fix. All copy is a brand opportunity.
  

Guide Copy:

• Blogger: 1-2-3 create a blog; Veer: "Preview type before you buy."
  
• Clear,
  
• Brief
  
• Audience-appropriate (Appropriate can mean non-inappropriate..ie neutral), Brand-appropriate.

"Copy" Copy

• Brand copy. Clear. "The Leukemia Letters: My Experiences with Leukemia, Blindness, and Life in General." ; "A List Apart: For People who Make Websites."
• Make it appear to be easy to use. Does not need to be "dumbed down."
• Bad: lulu.com about page.

Speaking URLs

• haveamint.com/requirements; alistapart.com/topics/design

Even "readers" scan online. Reading online can be more fatiguing than reading print(?).
Turn manure into gold. Lulu.com copy into organized text blocks.

Articles: "Attack of the Zombie copy", "Your About page is a robot."