Written Work Process

Discovery
Discovery is industry jargon for the getting-to-know you process of client briefings, qualitative research, the analysis of quantitative research, and breathing in the culture. Susan brings deep experience of many organizations to this process. The result? An intellectual and visceral understanding of the institution and its issues.

Creative strategy
This is the infrastructure of communications projects, built from the discovery findings. In this phase, the challenge is to position the organization or initiative, define its value, and articulate its messages. In this phase, Susan also works with her creative partners to develop the concepts that best express and support the messages.

Content development
Content, they say, is king (or queen), and they’re right. But content is not an off-the-shelf product. It needs to be developed. You need to know where to look and what to look for, how to do document research, how to interview, how to sniff out stories, how to make simple facts convey larger concepts. Susan knows how.

Writing
Writing is the last step, and it brings the strategy to life through emotional connection and astonishing simplicity. There’s an art in expressing complex concepts simply, and Susan practices it every day. And while she knows editorial standards cold, Susan has the judgment to deviate from one or another when the situation demands.