A Tutorial on... Tutorials
 

I've been an editor for HGTV. It was my job to clean up tuts and so... I felt the need to write this:

A Guide for Writing Tutorials

Wow, I don't even know what to say. :lol:

Oooh... is that good or bad??? My intention was to be helpful..

I enjoyed reading it. I didn't fully agree on the "get to the point" until you mentioned putting a tip section at the end for more beginner level people.

The get to the point part actually came about after reading a free tut posted here. We work with FIRE.. having paper nearby isn't exactly... safe. And the writer took 62 words to say what boiled down to:

Melt frit. Spot heat. Chill with brass marver.

62 words!!!! Really!????!!!

I often take my tuts and copy and paste the pics into a file and re-write the copy for soemthing smaller / quicker to glance at while at the torch.

I didn't quit making beads so I could sell tutorials. I wrote tutorials because the beads quit selling. LOL I'm not making less beads because I'm trying to sell my signature (I dislike that phrase) bead tutorial. I'm making fewer beads for personal reasons.

However, your tips are dead on. If I were buying a tutorial those are all things I would want. Except for the 'remain unsaid' part. The first time I don't remind people to keep the bead warm it will crack or explode, they will hurt themselves and blame me or at the very least I'll get emails from dozens of people wanting to know why their beads are cracking. What seems obvious to one person, is not obvious for the next. Plus, lots of these tutorials are geared toward several skill levels.

I suggest reading the tutorial through several times before taking it to the torch so you don't have to sit there and try to read too much while you are working. Glancing at the pictures should be enough at the torch if you've read the text in advance.

~~Mary

I would be inclined to agree, except that I get email questions about stuff that the answers are in the faq/troubleshooter/glossary at the end of the tutorial. If people were reading the tips section they would have known the answer. I don't mind answering these questions, don't get me wrong, it just leads me to think that if something important isn't right in the tutorial where it needs to be- people aren't reading the tips.

Very well written, great points/tips and I enjoyed reading it thank you!

Moth... well, user error and all.. people don't read. That's so true.

I do like when tuts have a summary section to take to the torch with just action words and photos for reference.

Please know that I didn't mean to some off as rude or snarky in any way (I've had some PMs on this). I've always been direct and some people...just need sugar coating. But I didn't become a producer in tv at the age of 29 because I was soft and sweet...

These are just a combination of things that happened to ME and my years of experience editing tuts for HGTV / Food / DIY networks. I wrote this some time ago and never did anything with it and just thought someone might find it helpful...

Don't get me wrong, it IS helpful! It's very valid and a great insider-view of the world of editing. Absolutely everything after the first paragraph is awesome.

I don't need sugar coating...I just don't need vinegar either. LOL

Tutorials writers should definitely have a few people go over the tutorial for spelling and grammar errors before releasing it to the public. That can't be said enough.

Moth! LOL! I think of myself more like an aged balsamic....... sassy with a little sweet! ;-)

You might want to try the sweet first with the pucker in the middle and end with the sassy. Your first paragraph in the blog post irked me and I don't even write tutorials, lol.

Excellent advice, but you might want to reconsider the approach. Or not.

I thought it was great. I dont think she was directing anything to one specific person.
Thanks

Thanks for posting, great tips, and yes I think it is right on.

With my photography tutorial I tried to write it as if the person reading it had no knowledge of the subject at all. I think people often assume when they write that the person reading it already knows most of what they are reading and can fill in the blanks.

Be concise, but be thorough. I tried to dumb it down to where I would have understood it and wished someone had explained it to me that way. Not that anyone reading it is "dumb". Just don't assume they already know what terms mean. My goddess bead tutorial is different because it's obviously not a beginner's tut. It's intermediate and I expect the person to know how to keep glass on the rod already. I also put a video with it.

And don't "pad" it with lots of unnecessary wordage.



As for video tutorials - I don't want to listen to you try to talk over your torch, your fan, your oxycon and whatever music you have on you CD player while you work. Annoying.

Maybe I'm wrong but if I ever wrote a tutorial I would approach it like technical writing.
I was taught that technical writing is written at different levels for different audiences.

Like Kevan said - for beginner level you repeat what seems obvious because it's so basic to remember it while working. But for intermediate and above you can mention the fact and not repeat it all the time.

Yeah, keep to the subject, but I have to admit I do enjoy the tutorials that aren't all business, get to the point immediately kinda thing.
Like Christi Friesen's polymer clay instruction books. I particularly enjoy those because in the middle of her instructions her personality comnes right out. They read like you are talking face to face with her. At least I think that - I don't know because I've never met her.

Thanks for sharing! I agree about lots of pics. I like Corinna's book for that reason. She has a pic, then a one sentence description, then a more detailed description. It's perfect to take to the torch and follow along.

I'm with Katie as well. I do like the personality of the writer to show through too! :)

Kimberly, I agree. However... it doesn't take 62 (!!!!) words to get to the point of what you are spot heating. People are playing with fire... they aren't going to sit there reading. I'm just saying to be aware of the audience.

----

And yes, keeping the bead warm is important but I do feel that could be addressed in the beginning or a tips section without repeating every... step.... of... the.... way.... ](*,)


I didn't mean to imply people were giving up beadmaking to write tuts. What I said was "no one is selling the volume of beads they were before"

I realize the opening is off-putting but... forgive me if I feel "strange" paying for things that were once... free.

There was a time, in my profession, job boards charged employers. But recently, it seems that these boards realized they could charge a few bucks to the vast numbers of unemployed and get wealthy. I find that hard to swallow... I'm out of work and you want me to PAY to find a job???

Tonight I went to buy ice cream and found the containers are smaller and the price is higher... they did that with bleach a few years ago. I'm not a creature who likes change.

And some part of me misses the ease with which information flowed between artists just a few short years ago.... that sense of camaraderie and helping one another.

Really? I don't see the sharing of information and the sense of artistic camaraderie in this community as having diminished at all. To me it appears those things are as alive and healthy as they ever were. But I guess that could be just a matter of perception.

In the world of art and craft there has always been information for sale and information for free. I don't see any difference between the tutorials and books and nobody complains about the books; dare I bring up the subject of expensive books with more typos and self-stroking than all these tutorials put together?

If I wanted to professionally publish my tutorials all together as a book with an editor and bells and whistles it would have cost the buyers a fortune and it still wouldn't be in print yet.

Tutorials are fast. Tutorials are economical. I'd like to see you spend 6 weeks taking hundreds of macro pictures of 1600 degree glass (at the torch while working), write 18 pages of text, edit it all, put it together and then give it away for nothing.

~~Mary

Mary - right on! I totally agree. The author of books such as that should be ashamed... and take my advice... HIRE an editor!

Kim, I've had MORE than one conversation... one on one... with lampworkers. Me admiring, ooohing and ahhhhing. I inquire... only to be told, "it'll be in my tutorial." Ouch!

I'm not saying people shouldn't make money off of a well done tut, but that my years as an editor has taught me that not everyone is a writer.

I've said this before but since you brought it up I'll say it again. If it wasn't for the tutorials for purchase I never would have revealed my technique at all. In fact I deliberated over revealing it for a price for almost a year. Some things you just don't give away for free. Of course no one has to buy it either. :) I think I'm more than helpful around here when it comes to problem solving or answering questions.

Excellent post, Holly. Thank you for sharing.

And Amy, I purchased your tut since I originally wrote that piece (and Kim's first set as well) . Both of yours are well done.

I have to admit that I've "known" both of you in the sense I was aware of your company Beeswax for many years and I know Kim was a pro writer. I was fairly certain, because of your background and Kim's that your tuts would be worth the price.

The camaraderie issue has happened to me more on a one on one basis. I'm more of the type... if you share something with me in a situation like that, I would RATHER buy a BEAD or set and support another artist that way. Or take a class and buy a bead if they teach. I'm often so shocked when someone says something like that to me that I buy nothing... no beads, no tuts, never a class!

Photos for tutorials
 

This thread is great and has lots of useful information. I majored in English about 100 years ago and the thought of writing a tutorial is daunting and I tip my hat to all those who have taken the plunge (never mind that I have nothing to write about)! One issues hasn't been addressed here (or at least I didn't see it). I have purchased quite a few tuts and read them front to back several times before trying my hand at them on the torch. I have had just 1 or 2 that I have purchased where the photography is awful. I mean so dark you can hardly see anything. Please, authors, if I'm paying $25 for a tut (about the same price as many lampwork books of years past) make sure that your photos are of the best quality and clarity. That, combined with your editing suggestions will result in a great tutorial.

Gail

I think many of the pay for it tutorials are information the creator wouldn't have told you or been able to tell you in a conversation or thread. The ones I have purchased are pretty comprehensive and I wouldn't expect to find all of it in a forum thread. Nor would I feel entitled to the information. (Although I can certainly imagine asking out of ignorance :) ) Maybe I'm missing what you are referring to because I'm not seeing a slew of how to make a twisty tutorials for sale.

Like anything, the good tutorial makers will keep doing them because they are successful and the not so good ones will not.

Back to your tutorial. It's good information, thank you for sharing it.

Thanks Shawnette!

Well, OK, but that doesn't mean there's no sharing or spirit of camaraderie going on anymore -- it just means that the particular designs or techniques you asked about happened to be ones that those lampworkers didn't want to share for free. Just because we would like for something to be given to us for free doesn't necessarily mean that it's fair or realistic to expect that.

And btw...this is just in the spirit of healthy debate. You know I love ya, and I did agree with most of your pointers.

I'm the reader... not the writer.... and I agreed with most everything in your TUTS FOR TUTS. Just remember I'm not selling a tut but I'm buying them. This is what I do. 1.) Buy the tutorial 2.) Read over the tutorial first..all of it 3) Sometimes, but not always, I will take the time to edit out what I'm not going to need at the torch...yeah, seriously. I need the condensed version while I'm melting glass with fire and I always leave the pics in. In my line of work...education...the condensed version of the original handout is called....are you ready? "Handy Hint Cards". :lol: We found that our teachers want these more than anything. They file the original but keep the HH cards close by. So I guess that's why I do what I do. Am I planting any seeds for a new format? Darn, I should have sold my idea to the TUT makers. :biggrin:

Thanks to all of you who write the tutorials. =D>
The BOGO Tuts are awesome...sooo appreciate it when you do those. I just can't pay $25 for 1 tutorial.

*** this is JUST my opinion.. it's just what "I" do and I'm just sharing :-\"