Con Edison Editorial Guide

I wrote the Con Edison Editorial Guide to explain site content creation from the highest level -- tone and voice -- to granular instructions on module character count and specific word choices to use based on the new taxonomy. A new, in-depth guide would help guide Con Ed team members to maintain the new site and create new content on their own.

 

 Goals of the Editorial Guide

The guide helps explain changes to content stakeholders and subject matter experts.

 

Create consistency.

Editorial guides make it possible for multiple writers to produce content that sounds like it’s coming from the same voice. This is important because it allows the customer to feel like they have a reliable, familiar relationship with their utility provider.

Establish style.

There are lots of different ways to say the same thing, and they can all be grammatically correct. This guide provides a reference for the way we prefer to say different things when more than one way could be considered correct.

Pick a common vocabulary.

Beyond phrases, we need to be intentional about specific words and what we all agree those words mean. This guide also provides definitions and guidelines for when we use which words and what we mean when we use them.

Communicate with clarity.

Above all, this editorial guide is meant to help us write with clarity for the variety of audiences that visit Con Edison’s websites.

 
 

Editorial Guide Workshops

Once the guide was complete, I trained Con Edison's Corporate Communications team, including seven writers and four technical and governance leads in four in-depth sessions as they assumed control and ownership of the new sites.