Becoming a UX writer: a journey without experience

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Eight months ago, I quit my stable career as an Emergency Manager — I was burnt out and needed a change of pace. Mind you — I had a back up plan when I quit, because I am undecidedly a planner with goals.

Fast-forward to a month ago, and I still continued the search for my Holy Grail. When I came upon it by accident: UX Writing. Did I have any clue what it was? Absolutely not — I didn’t have a clue, but I wanted in!

I took everything I could gather and researched, researched, and researched some more; until I was down the rabbit hole and there was no turning back.

These are the things that have helped me along the way, and the steps I took to get started on the path to becoming a UX Writer.

Layout of laptop, pens, reading glasses, and notepads. Photo by Jess Baily on Unsplash.

Find a Community

I was lucky enough to have found a few different communities with Facebook and LinkedIn, and was provided referrals to some great UX communities throughout my research. These are the groups I frequent the most:

1. Daily UX Writing (Facebook group) hosts a daily UX writing challenge — it gets sent to your email, however, the idea is to post your solutions/content into the group and receive feedback from UX writers already in the field. What better way to get guidance, than from experienced writers?
2. UX Writers and Content Designers (LinkedInk group) is a nice mix of those beginning the journey and experienced writers. I’m fairly new to this group, and am still trying to navigate it. But, first thoughts from initial review is it’s geared more towards upcoming workshops, courses, and potential jobs.
3. Women+ in UX Writing and Content Design (Facebook group) focuses more on uplifting the women within the tech industry as a whole. There are some highly skilled UX writers and content designers in this group that are doing amazing things within the industry.

Take a Course

1. UX Writing Fundamentals has been invaluable to me. I’m currently in the middle of taking this course — I read about it through a senior UX writer and decided to take it, and Daily UX Writing also recommends it. They have a coupon for it through the Facebook group. Anyways — it is a self-paced course, and it walks you through the various design concepts you may encounter in the field, has challenges and quizzes at the end of the lessons and units, plus, you have to build a portfolio — this is crucial, especially for those of us that are just starting out and don’t have any experience.
2. Google UX Design Certificate this course has been highly recommended throughout some of the communities I’m a part of, a lot of people like it because it goes over the foundations and design concepts you’ll encounter most in the UX field, as well as conducting research and testing your own designs. Plus, the name itself, we all know Google.
3. The UX Writing Academy Training Program this is another course that was highly recommended through the same communities. This one is pricier than the course I’m taking, but, you get live weekly check-ins with the mentors, live feedback from the instructors, and there is a community of students you can tap into during the course. Their next class is starting July 11, 2022. They do offer a self-paced program as well.

Helpful Websites

1. Daily UX Writing has an extensive “How To” section on their website — which has been a great resource when you’re starting out. Plus, they host a daily UX writing challenge on their Daily UX Writing Facebook group — mentioned above.
2. UX Content Collective’s blog has great articles on content and troubleshooting from working UX writers and content designers within the community. I specifically love this because it gives you insight to real-life scenarios that you could potentially come across.
3. Medium provides many options to follow and connect with fellow writers from a variety of different fields, while showcasing one’s writing. Plus, you can easily search for whatever topic it is you want to read about.

Read Some Books

All of these books were highly recommended to me, particularly for UX writing.

1. Content Strategy for the Web, 2nd Edition by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach
2. Strategic Writing for UX by Torrey Podmajersky
3. Microstyle: The Art of Writing Little by Christopher Johnson
4. The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells (4th Edition) by Robert W. Bly
5. Microcopy: The Complete Guide by Kinneret Yifrah

The only book I have read is The Copywriter’s Handbook, I actually have an older version from when I worked at a media agency a few years ago. However, I have bought all the books listed, and I’m currently waiting for them to arrive.

My best piece of advise, is for you to get plugged into a community that fits into the field you want to break into. Whether it’s UX research, content strategy, writing, etc. — find what works best for you, your style of learning, and your interests. Just because this is what worked for me, doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.

Another thing, find a mentor and find someone that’s also going through this journey as well — even if it’s in a different field, but find someone you can share the experience with — someone that you can support, and vice-versa, throughout the journey. It’s amazing the things you can learn and get done when you have someone on a similar feat.

I, myself, haven’t found a mentor yet, but I’ve been taking note of people that have stood out to me. Once I’m ready to move forward and reach out, I will do so. My current goal is to finish more of the course I’m taking, so I can feel better prepared. In the meantime, I am posting and asking for guidance within my communities.

I hope this helps you along the way, if you have questions, or just want to get in touch, please do so! And, if you have any further recommendations for me, leave me a comment below.

Stephanie