Something Feels Off

I'm writing the short lines that sit under each case study title on the homepage. Typing along by feel.

Then I look at what I've got. Each line tells you what the project was, who the client was, what the work involved. I wouldn't click on these.

Let's be honest about who I'm writing for here. The overwhelmed recruiter, the frustrated hiring manager who has already looked at two hundred portfolios this month. Show her another rounded corner dropshadow summary card. She's out!

I could publish these lines tomorrow. Nothing wrong with them. But something feels off.

I reach for Shawn Coyne's The Story Grid. Coyne has the words I've been missing. The blurb's job is now the inciting incident: what tilted, what stopped being normal. The line under it leaves a beat open. A tease, not a summary.

She scans the new lines. An audio-extraction tool built solo when a dozen alternatives already existed. And under it: The audio wasn't the point.The story isn't on the homepage.

I'd click.