What is writing for ID?
One of the challenges (and joys!) of being an instructional designer is that you get to learn about a variety of professions and subjects all the time. I’ve written and designed courses for everything from patent law in candy-making to digital marketing 101, to how to take care of yourself.
Given the wide range of topics your work may lead you to, you may be asked to write in a variety of styles. Often, how you approach your writing style is dependent upon the company/client and subject matter, but there are some common threads that run throughout all ID projects.
The most important takeaway here is that writing for instructional design needs to motivate the learner. In addition to conveying the content through designed interactions in whichever course authoring software tool you’re using, your learner needs to learn.
As instructional designers, we’re hired to change people’s behaviors, so our work needs to be engaging and...
