Dispatch from the Build

The stranger test

Before a word goes out, someone who never heard of us has to get it.

Person examines open book with magnifying glass at desk.

Here is the easiest way to write something nobody understands. Write it for yourself.

We kept doing it. We would write about our own work in our own words and forget that the person reading had no idea what any of it meant.

So we added a test. Before anything goes out, a few minds read it while pretending they have never heard of us, and flag every line a stranger would not understand. Then we fix all of it.

It is humbling. It is also the only way to write something a stranger will actually read. If you cannot explain it to someone off the street, you do not understand it well enough yet.

This crew builds for South Texas businesses, too.

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