Bruce Bronstein is the Director of Communications at Christopher Newport University. As such, he over sees numerous tasks including most of the writing on the website about Christopher Newport University. Not only does most of the writing go through him before getting published, he actually writes a good bit of it himself. I decided to interview him, and did so via email.
Did you go to school to become a web writer? If yes, how did you decide that’s what you wanted to do? If not, how did you get here?
I was a theatre major in college, but always had an interest in marketing. I had many years of retail experience that grew into marketing expertise. I graduated from college in 1988. My first job was at a significant Madison Avenue agency, McCaffrey & McCall. At the time there were fewer than ten computers in the entire company. The point is, as technology develops you have to grow too. I have to admit I was a late adopter to online marketing. Now the web is the most important part of our communications and marketing plans. There are more than four million hits on our homepage each year. Every issue of every printed publication would have to be read by 300 people in order to have the same reach. As marketing and communications executives, writing for the web is not a decision we make, it’s something we have to do….and I really love it.
Is web writing your entire job or do you do other things?
As the Director of the Office of Communications and Public Relations (OCPR) I oversee the marketing and public relations activities for Christopher Newport University. Writing for the web is part of the larger communications and branding responsibilities; but it is essential. There is an online component to everything created by OCPR. There was a time when digital was an afterthought. We’d create a new publication and perhaps someone would ask if we added the new content to the web. Now we think web first and consider how we can support that content with print.
What does your writing process look like?
We are always talking about creating new content. And when we discuss content it’s always audience driven. Who is this for? Why do they need it? Why should they care? What do we hope to accomplish? Good websites begin with good content, and the audience get’s to decide whether your content is good or not. We begin the process by identifying audience needs and then we find stories that meet those needs. Sometimes you have a good story first and you have to find the angle that makes it fit with the audience. That’s the job of a writer. Often we’ll need to do research and conduct interviews. Again as we begin crafting the story we think audience first. Who are we talking to? What’s the right voice? What are we trying to accomplish? Once an early draft is written, we read and discuss the piece at an editorial meeting. We rip it apart and put it back together. Then it goes to a peer editor (our writers edit for one another). The final edit is given a final read by yet another writer, and if there are no further changes it’s sent to the web team and posted.
What’s the hardest part of being a web writer?
The hardest part of being a web writer is the immediacy of the medium. You need to be both good and fast. Web content get’s old quickly. When you work fast, mistakes happen. When you make mistakes on the web it’s in front of millions of people. Your name is attached to your content. When most people have a spelling error it’s between them and their boss. On the web, everyone sees your errors and everyone has an opinion. You need to have a think skin.
Do you have any advice for aspiring web writers?
If you want to be a web writer, do it. You do not become better by wishing. Write a lot. Read, a lot. Become discerning. Learn the difference between good writing and bad writing. Develop your own voice. I give all my interns the same advice – don’t be mediocre. It sounds a bit snarky, but it’s true. Work harder than the next guy. Strive for excellence. Be relentless. And if you want to stand apart from the crowd, swim upstream. Be different.