Part of the fun and challenge of being a content writer is that you hardly ever write alone. Even when it looks like you are the only one who’s typing, the end product is always the result of collaboration. At least that’s the sense I got while playing Rusty Lake’s co-op mystery (slightly eerie) game, ‘The Past Within’.
You and a friend — whether you’re in the same room or miles apart, in different cities or even different countries — play as two versions of the same person, Rose: her past and her future self. Each of you experiences the world in a different dimension — one in 2D, the other in 3D. While none of you have a clear idea about what is going on in the other person’s timeline, you have to work together to solve the puzzles and put Rose’s father’s plan into action.
Your only strength in this game is good communication.
A split-screened collaboration
Now, my friend and I are similar in some ways but I’d like to believe that our differences sit together just as well. And that’s what worked best for us. As someone who is quite patient and intelligent, my friend was quickly able to derive clues from my half-structured instructions. On the other hand, being proactive helped me look for hints that could help both of us put the puzzle together.
Our shared interest in storytelling helped us visualise what we couldn’t see, and we could make sense of what wasn’t directly in front of us.
In a way, that’s what most of content writing looks like.
It takes two to create a story
Recently, due to a few changes at workplace, lately I have had the chance to work with colleagues outside our team. And as a result, I have developed a whole new sense of not just the company or the products and solutions, but also the kind of content that we have been delivering. It is easy to stay inside a silo and create stuff that you assume will work – or at least Semrush says so! You can even write some brilliant pieces that are good to read, and might also bring in some quality leads.
But once you start talking to David from product or Maya from sales (not real names, though) you start seeing yourself as a part of…something. Your content then becomes The Story.
A lot like my friend and me, David and Maya each have their own set of information within their own spaces. They communicate it to our team, and we dig into it. Sometimes they might use terms that we aren’t familiar with, or explain concepts that we didn’t know our products could do. There might also be instances where they would point out things in our content that have been potentially giving out the incorrect facts about our product (BIG OUCH)!
The more you learn from others, the more your writing begins to reflect what your readers want from it. Their hopes, their intentions, frustrations, and also what they are looking for.
To write well, we need people
As my friend and I approached towards the end, the puzzles in the game got slightly more complex. But to us, that’s where the fun began. We trusted each other with the parts of the stories that we cannot see, and each of us took the accountability to ensure that we were doing everything on our end to help the other person.
When you’re writing content, the most important task is to listen to the right people. Even in a cross-functional setup, where those people might not be part of your immediate team, your story is only complete when it’s built on all the facts. You can write in isolation, but creativity isn’t always a solitary act. Like ‘The Past Within’, the best work happens when we listen to their side of the story — and find a way to make it part of our own.
