by Skellie
Photo by Sukanto Debnath
Yesterday’s list of 70 sources of inspiration was mainly composed of examples. In this post, I want to explain why the ability to learn from others is essential to your development as a blogger or webmaster.
Here, I’ll outline the process for creating and using something I strongly believe every web publisher should maintain: a swipe file of things they can learn from or use.
What’s a swipe file?
In the copywriting business, a swipe file is a folder (online or offline) the writer uses to collect examples of good copy. Its stated use is for inspiration, but that’s only about half of its true usefulness.
All good examples contain lessons. The key is in unlocking them.
The swipe file idea is aimed at copywriters, but let’s transplant it to our own field: web publishing. What would a web publisher’s swipe file look like and how would it be maintained?
The kind of swipe file we can use is a collection of content, images, design elements, headlines, quotes and resources we like. Think of it like a digital scrap-book: as you browse, you paste items into your swipe file (often literally, via Cut + Paste).
Your own swipe file could take on a myriad of forms: you might use your del.icio.us account, or any other social bookmarking service, for that matter. You could use your browser bookmarks, or a document.
I keep my swipe file with Tumblr, as it allows me to add any element of the page I’m visiting (whether it be quotes, links, images or video) by clicking a button in my toolbar. I don’t have to log in or visit the dashboard at all. I can also follow the tumblelogs of Skelliewag readers and they can follow my updates in return.
The role of the swipe file itself is to aggregate examples of great web content, design, useful articles and quotes, or to keep track of ideas. It’s fun, useful and can be updated on the fly.
The real value of a swipe file, though, is in how you use it.
How to learn by example
When you like something, it’s not simply because it’s good, or because you just do. There are always identifiable factors which add up to a feeling of positivity towards something. Each of these is a lesson waiting to be learned. You can de-construct your positive feeling down to reasons for that feeling, and de-construct each of those reasons down into little, actionable ideas for your own work.
Yes, I just said ‘de-construct’ enough times to make your grimace, but it’s a lot easier than it sounds. I’ll give you an example based on the last thing I added to my swipe file, which is… 40+ Excellent Free Fonts For Professional Design, taken from the notorious Smashing Magazine. There’s no reason behind picking this specific example. You can repeat the process with anything.
I must like the content I’ve chosen, otherwise I wouldn’t have saved it. Things get interesting (and useful) when I start to de-construct why I was moved to save it.
- I’m writing an eBook and want to make it look good, but I don’t have the money to pay for a professional font. I think I might be able to find a few good choices here.
- There are more than 40 fonts listed, which promises to provide me with a lot of choice. With that many options I’m confident I’ll find something I like.
- The list provides useful previews of each font, rather than making me click on each one before I know whether I’m wasting my time or not.
- From an aesthetic stand-point, the list is visually interesting. I like typography so I really enjoy looking at it.
- The list could have been longer (there are thousands of free fonts out there) but it seems as if the emphasis is on value over quantity. Every font looks well suited to professional design work.
How to find lessons in what you like
How could a list of free fonts have an impact on Skelliewag? No, I’m not planning on constructing any typographical lists. I can, however, draw out a number of ideas which are directly translatable:
- A good resource list is constructed with a target audience in mind.
- Lots of choices is better than few: it increases the chance that the user will find something they love (at least in their own mind.)
- A good resource list includes previews of each item to help the user make an educated choice.
- Visually interesting lists are more enjoyable to interact with (this thinking influenced my decision to include thumbnail images in my 110+ Resources for Creative Minds post).
- The advantages of choice are best weighed against the benefits of consistent value. Anyone can produce a mammoth list with some work, but every sub-standard item devalues the finished product.
How to find lessons in everything
The above process can be repeated for any entry in your swipe file. You can de-construct why a piece of linkbait worked, why a story moved you, why you find a web design attractive, or a million different things. The next (and most important step) is to draw out the ideas you can translate to your own site.
Ideally, you want this to become a natural habit: something you’ll do internally and almost without thinking as you browse.
As you develop this habit, though, a similar exercise to the one I’ve completed above will be really useful. By writing down the de-construction process you’ll train your mind not only to appreciate and enjoy good content but to understand what made it work, and most importantly, to translate those factors into what you do.
So, let’s do it!
If you create a swipe file with Tumblr you can follow my swipe file and I’ll keep track of the updates in yours.
I’ll also use my own swipe file to link out to swipe files from other Skelliewag readers (whether they are on Tumblr or elsewhere).
If you decide to go with Tumblr (and I guess you can tell that’s what I recommend), you can ‘follow’ the Skelliewag tumblelog and I’ll follow yours. If you decide to use another service then leave the address of your swipe file in the comments here and I’ll link out to that as well.
I think a swipe file community could be a great way for Skelliewag readers to connect outside the blog, and for me to get to know you better, and vice versa. Why not share your swipe file with your readers, too?
A bonus tip: De-constructing the process of disliking something is just as useful. It tells you what not to do!
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27 Comments, Comment or Ping
Mohsin
Perhaps keeping a swipe file with Tumblr is not a good idea. It doesn’t let you sort your collection by categories. Nor does it let you search through your accumulated sources of inspiration.
I don’t ‘intentionally’ keep a swipe file, but I do bookmark the pages I like with del.icio.us. Apart from bookmarking my favorite resources, it does everything else that Tumblr currently lacks.
Nov 9th, 2007
skellie
@ Mohsin: I suppose it would be a matter of personal tastes — different services will suit different people. The advantage of Tumblr is that it’s easier for us all to connect across the service, but whatever works for the individual is fine :).
Nov 9th, 2007
Bente Lilja Bye
Hi Skellie, I have been using my bookmarks as a swipe file and established maps to put it in categories that make it easier to find it when I need it. Otherwise I found that using stumbleupon can turn out to be useful where you categorize by using tags - and you can search by tags. However, since I am browsing heavily at times, I gather so much material that I am worried that it’ll get “lost”.
You mentioned Tumblr, there’s del.icio.us and many others. It can become too time consuming the whole thing and steal from your more productive work.
I regard your post as an invitation to “gang up” the skelliewag readers. And since I find so much of your material of high quality and generally interesting, I’d be happy to give it a try and register with Tumblr.
I guess the list of links have to be limited though.
Nov 9th, 2007
skellie
@ Bente: I guess I good way to cut it down can be to limit it only to the things you think you might be able to de-construct to influence your own work :).
Hope to see you over at Tumblr!
Nov 9th, 2007
Bente Lilja Bye
I am up an running on lilja.tumblr.com.
I find that the quality of the comments of your readership is high and the group serious and constructive - did you plan to create a channel on tumblr?
Nov 9th, 2007
Elliott
Skellie,
Great read! I hadn’t really thought of doing that, although I have been for some time. I have organized my bookmarks into folders of items, such as photos, fonts, colors, wallpapers, etc. and any time I come across a site that I find something useful, I bookmark it.
Since I use several different computers, I also use Foxmarks bookmark synchronizer to keep them all the same. It only works on the best browser, Firefox, of course!
Thanks for the great ideas on expanding what I have been doing!
Nov 9th, 2007
Alex Kay
Keeping a swipe file is something that everyone should do, especially bloggers. I cut things out of newspapers and magazines
Nov 9th, 2007
Jon Robinson
Skellie…relatively new reader, but I’ve been tumbling for a while now and definitely love your tumblr. Anyway, to answer some concerns about too many services, lack of searching, etc. Tumblr can import feeds that you create. I import my del.icio.us bookmarks and they are posted automatically on the tumblr. You can do the same with flickr, a second blog., etc. The categorization, search thing can be solved by letting google index your tumblr, then just use the site: query to search your tumblr. It’s not as pretty but works great. Tumblr is amazing because it really reduces the overhead to post because of their bookmarklet that can handle various media types natively. It let’s you follow and be followed a la Twitter as Skellie mentioned above.
Nov 10th, 2007
Jon Robinson
Skellie, I’m following you now.
Nov 10th, 2007
maneesh
my swipe file is my browser…
I bookmark (not socially) anything that I find even remotely interesting.. into proper folders for future reference..
so things go like photos for m photography, designs for web and graphic design, writing for writing projects …and also an ideas folder to put stuff which i think i can use later for my blog…
its also good to go back and see the bookmarks i made long back… get nostalgic and think how beautiful this world is. though I never realize why nostalgia does that to me…
anyway, this may not exactly be a productive and convenient way.. but have gotten used to it so much .. has become more of a habit…
Nov 10th, 2007
Steven Bradley
I’ve always done this, though admittedly in a rather haphazard fashion. A bookmark here, a text file there, a few thoughts I carry around in my head.
You’ve convinced me to at least give Tumblr a look.
Nov 10th, 2007
cindy*staged4more
very cool! i like the pages that you have saved. i kind of wish that there is a rss feed (or maybe i missed it) on the page so i can keep tabs on the development more efficiently.
cheers,
cindy
Nov 10th, 2007
Evan Hadkins
Thanks Skellie,
It’s a great idea.
I’m pretty new to blogging and don’t know what tublr is about.
You can also be a bit more purposeful with the swipe file and go looking for examples of particular things you like. Eg. spending some time looking for: endings that make me want to comment or blog designs that don’t look crowded and so on.
Nov 10th, 2007
Nancy
I have a combination of StumbleUpon and del.icio.us - haven’t come across Tumblr before, so I have signed up for it also (tigertwo.tumblr.com).
I think it is great not just to deconstruct, but I also to help avoid the inevitable problem of writing a blog post and then not remembering where the page was that gave you the idea (and so not being able to share the link love!)
I have been saved by my history on a couple of occasions, but since then, anything I read that I think I might refer to, I make sure to bookmark.
Nov 10th, 2007
skellie
@ Bente: I think it will be easier if we all just follow each-other’s Tumblrs. It seems as if the channels involve more work ;).
@ Elliott: Have you been de-constructing them, too? ;).
@ Alex: Great to see that you’re finding inspiration offline.
@ Jon: Tumblr is great aggregating various services, actually. I hope Mohsin reads your comment, as I think you’ve answered his concerns really well.
@ Maneesh: If you get into the habit of, not only saving, but de-constructing why great content works, then it will be a useful practice.
@ Steven: Hopefully I’ll see you there :).
@ Cindy: There’s a little RSS link in the top right corner of the page. I will try and make it more prominent as I agree, it’s way too small at the moment.
@ Evan: That’s a cool idea. I will definitely give it a try!
@ Nancy: Hehe, the inevitable scramble for a lost link… Tumblr is indeed a nice way to (try) to avoid it ;).
Nov 10th, 2007
Joanna Young
Hi Skellie - you’ve got a lot in here - mixture of sharing with your community, saving the resources you want to use, learning how to deconstruct…
I’ve just stumbled it - which is another form of swipe file? - maybe I should deconstruct it now too?
I do have a tumblr account and like it, but don’t always remember to use it as I there are so many other things I keep on finding to experiment with, like stumbleupon. My other swipes are in desktop bookmarks, clippings folder in bloglines, and my head.
I might give tumblr a bit more of a push though, with your encouragement.
Joanna
Nov 10th, 2007
snosen
snosen.tumblr.com/
The Bookmarklet-thingy in the toolbar makes it so easy, so I already love having a tumblelog.
Nov 10th, 2007
Ivy
Hi Skellie, this is such a cool idea! I’m excited, and am following you from ivytan.tumblr.com.
Nov 11th, 2007
maneesh
de-construct is what i do skellsberg .. i mean the blog ideas folder is essentially a de-construction folder.. I once had bookmark on a series of ads on condoms.. and i used that to make my post that a blog is a condom.. so yeah have I can vouch for it when you say its a useful practice to deconstruct bookmarks…
Nov 11th, 2007
Mary Jaksch
A swipe file is a great idea. I’ve started a tumblr log at goodlifezen.tumblr.com
Let’s see how that works. I’m not so sure how it would work not having the stuff in categories. Here’s another idea:
I’m a keen on mind maps. I use mind maps to start each writing project, whether it’s a post or a book. A mind map mirrors the way the brain is built. Each main category has many tentacles that link to other related ideas. The great thing about using a mindmap is that it triggers fresh ideas. It’s a creativity generator.
There’s some mindmap free software called FreeMind. You can pop weblinks, images, text and so on into it. I’m going to start using that as a swipe file and will share with you how I get on.
Nov 11th, 2007
policomm
I’ve being do this for a while not knowing it is called a swipe file. I use Delicious, and furl and know aggregate all my web content on Tumblr :- policomm.tumblr.com
What I need to do is more deconstructing
Thanks for opening the eyes and mind
policomm
Nov 13th, 2007
WriteWayUp
Very nice, “meaty” piece. I’ve joined Tumblr thanks to your suggestion.
WriteWayUp
Apr 28th, 2008
Neil Simpson
Interesting Idea, and interesting name too, I have used inspiration boards and mood boards for years, although that tends to be limited to print media, using tumblr might be fun.
Thanks for this
Apr 30th, 2008
Story Starters
My low tech swipe file is recipe box filled with 3×5 index cards. Whenever I read an article or blog I take the key ideas and make bullet lists. I’ve used Blog Catalog, Stumble and Tumblr but I end up spending time surfing instead of writing. Plus when I read a 1000 word post and summarize it in my own words in 3 or 4 sentences, I get a better idea of framing my piece. Thanks for all the great tips.
May 14th, 2008
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