How and why I write

We love to share personal connections to professional and technical writing. We recently met with Michelle Davidson, and asked her about how she writes. Thanks to Michelle for this insightful interview about professional writing!

Let’s start with an introduction. Who are you, and what do you do?

My name is Michelle Davidson, and I’m a content marketing manager at Allego, maker of SaaS revenue enablement software. I’m a journalist at heart and by trade. I am an alumna of Northeastern University’s journalism school. I have been writing professionally since 1987, having worked as a reporter, editor, copy editor, website editor, social media manager, and now marketer. 

What kinds of documents do you write most of the time?

I mostly write long-form content, such as ebooks. I also write press releases, email copy, and copy for organic social media posts. I also ghostwrite thought leadership articles. Occasionally, I write using my own name—articles about research Allego conducted and interviews with subject matter experts. 

I also write a lot of social media copy for organizations I volunteer for, including the Plymouth County Commission on the Status of Women. In that role, I also write reports, including our annual report and event summary reports.

How do you focus your writing?

I write like a journalist and begin with a strong lede, something that hooks the reader. And I include data and quotes to support what I write.

I don’t have a template. I like my writing to tell a story or take the reader on a journey.

What is your favorite tool for writing?

I prefer writing in Microsoft Word. But I put those documents onto Google Drive if I want or need someone to review what I wrote. I prefer the “Suggesting” mode in Google Docs than the “Track Changes” tool in Word.

After what I’ve written is final, it either goes to a graphic designer to turn into an ebook PDF or it gets added to WordPress as an article. I rarely use HTML these days because Allego’s WordPress styles are built in and cannot be changed.

What’s your favorite font for writing?

I write on a Mac, and I like the default font in the current version of Word—Aptos. Sometimes I use Calibri. With Google Docs, I use Arial. Basically, I like any font that is sans serif and not crowded. My real pet peeve is line spacing. I want to add my own spaces between paragraphs and not use the space above or space below formatting that others use. And don’t get me started on double spaces after periods.