I’m concerned with the subtitle of Andrea Marks’ Writing for Visual Thinkers: A Guide for Artists and Designers.

The subtitle is too limiting:

Writing for Visual Thinkers is a book that anyone in business can benefit from!

Writing for Visual Thinkers offers help to broad spectrum of authors & self-employed professionals in business who want to become better writers by becoming visual thinkers!

Why artists and designers need to know how to write

In Andrea Marks’ words, in Chapter 6, Writing In Practice:

As an artist and designer, you will be using writing to present yourself to others, to get projects, and to publicize your work.

She continues: Artists statements, resumes, press releases, project briefs, and job applications are some of the ways you will be writing.

Elsewhere in Chapter 6, she details a variety of writing projects, and examines each in terms of its characteristics, how you can prepare for writing, and offers a variety capsule good and bad examples. Included are:

• Cover letters
• Artist statements
• Resumes
• Press releases
• Blog entries
• Grant proposals
• Project narratives
• Proposals
• Design briefs
• Case studies

Although the terms used by artists and design professionals may vary from occupation to occupation, just about everyone in business has to prepare similar written documents at one time or another.

Visual thinking for authors, coaches, & consultants

In addition to providing welcome writing assistance to artists and designers,  Writing for Visual Thinkers provides authors, coaches, consultants, and other self-employed professionals with concise and jargon-free summary of the basics of visual thinking and how it contributes to effective and efficient writing.

Business owners who may have heard terms like free writing, mind mapping, sketch books, or visual thinking, will immediately gain a new understanding of writing from a freer, richer perspective. The new perspective arrives with an army of examples and practical tips.

Writing for Visual Thinkers offers a great deal of depth, but not at the expense of easy reading. It’s designed for easy reading and high retention. It’s also loaded with hundreds of resources which can be directly accessed from links on the CD-ROM which accompanies the book. These include articles, blogs, books, examples, and websites.

My favorite takeaway

I always like it when an author concise expresses something I’ve always believed, but never have been able to express in a single sentence. In this case, Andrea Marks says it best:

Writing is a muscle, and needs regular exercise to be strong so it’s there when you need it.

What do you think?

Do you depend on writing to attract and sell prospects, and guide clients through your marketing funnel? If you’ve read Writing for Visual Thinkers, I’d love to hear what you think–especially if you’re an artist, author, designer, or any other type of self-employed professional looking for fresh ideas to help you use words to attract new business and build lasting relationships with clients. Share your impressions or questions below, as comments. Thank you.