Tips on tutorial writing from Craftytips.com.

Photo by Flickr user Stefani Woods

Hey Podgers! Michele from Craftytips.com and Blog About Crafts is here to share with you some of her favorite tips on tutorial writing. If you are new to blogging or just haven't done a tutorial yet, take a peek. Oh, and to Michele - you rock!
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Many of us take great pleasure in sharing our latest craft creations and explaining how we made them. It makes my day whenever someone drops me a line about one of my tutorials and shares what they made from one of my designs. Mod Podge Rocks is a true celebration of that wonderful sharing spirit among crafters and I am so excited that Amy invited me to be a small part of it!


I do apologize for my little friend; he’s a bit loyal and just loves his toothpick sized protest sign. I’m Michele and I love to crochet tiny little bears and other wee things. I’m the owner of Crafty Tips. If you haven’t been before, it’s a fun and free website where crafters share their websites and blogs along with their favorite crafting tips.

I talk about Crafty Tips, my two other crafting websites, the business of crafting, selling crafts online and just about anything related to crafts that I find interesting on my blog entitled Blog About Crafts. In my “day job” I offer writing and marketing services to small and medium-sized businesses to help build their online presence. It’s the absolute coolest thing to help someone build or expand their business and
rediscover why they started it in the first place. I truly love what I do.

Amy and I talked via e-mail several times about what I could write about as a guest poster. As much as my little wooden card box is sitting within arm’s reach and just screaming to be cleverly Mod Podged, I’ve not worked (yet) with her medium of choice and wasn’t sure what would be a good topic to write about.

Whether you are selling your hand-made items online and/or a fellow blogger who is generously sharing your designs with others; I thought it might be useful to talk about things we can all do to make our tutorials better and easier to understand. After all, we’ve all faced the headache that often follows those three little words, “some assembly required.” Sometimes I wonder why they just don’t put on those instruction sheets “and then a miracle occurs” and be done with it.

Great project tutorials don’t require having award-winning writing and photography skills. Tutorial writing isn’t about perfect grade A+ grammar either. Tutorials should answer three basic questions for your readers – “Why do I want to make this whiz-bang thingamabob?”, “How hard and time-consuming is it to make this awesome thing I’ve just decided I can’t live without?” and “Can I follow the instructions and successfully make this thingamabob?”

To me, the first answers come from a photograph or two of the finished item. Unless the project is a mystery craft-along where the instructions are dribbled out over a period of time, I’m not going to blindly invest my time and deplete my crafty stash on an unknown project. After reviewing thousands of websites for inclusion in my site Crafty Tips Arts and Crafts Directory, I’ve found that most stolen craft-related content is presented without pictures. With that in mind, why would you want anyone thinking your latest creation might actually belong to someone else?

It’s also helpful to label projects as beginner, advanced or somewhere in between. While I might give an intermediate or advanced crochet project a try, it’s doubtful I’d do more than admire a quilting project that required advanced skills. While not everyone defines being an expert the same way, such a designation may prevent someone from expending time and materials on a project they simply aren’t ready for.

Don’t assume everyone defines terms the same way or is even familiar with those terms in the first place. It’s better to include too much detail than to frustrate your readers or even worse, force them to look elsewhere to find help with your instructions.

Take the time to explain what equipment you are using. If you are brushing Mod Podge onto your project, please tell your readers what sort of brush you are using. Can a hard-bristled, cheapo children’s watercolor brush be used or does your project require a foam or natural bristle brush? Don’t assume that just because you have a picture that your site visitor will notice and realize they should only use a foam brush or other quality brush. And don’t assume that they are frequent visitors of Mod Podge Rocks and know all about using Mod Podge. It might seem like common sense not to use one of those cheapo brushes when putting on a finish coat, but a true beginner may not know that.

It also helps if you number each step. That way if someone has questions or suggestions, they can let you know what part of your instructions they are talking about.

One last suggestion is about branding and name recognition. Always scatter your site’s name in at least two or three places within your tutorial. It helps remind people where they are and if they should print your tutorial, they always know where it came from. Mentioning your site’s name helps with search engine optimization and also adds a small layer of protection against someone reposting your entire tutorial without permission.

I’ve enjoyed working with Amy and hope you found my suggestions on tutorial writing helpful. Happy crafting!