Write Your First White Paper

Photo by Zach Klein

In my persuasive writing class we just wrapped up a section on writing white papers. Over the past few weeks, we spent time reading white papers on white papers, making fun of poorly designed white papers from design companies, and learning how to strike a balance of being persuasive while not coming off as a car salesman. While all these things surely helped when it came to time writing our own, it wasn't until the writing process started that I realized just how much goes into writing and designing a solid white paper. Here are some of the basics:

1. Research - This seems obvious, but depending on the product or service you will be writing your white paper on, this can be very time consuming. If your product, for example, has been around for decades, think about the wealth of material you should be reading through to get a full concept of what you should be focusing on. You may have to interview people or read old white papers to get a sense of what the company has used in the past and what they may need moving forward.
2. Layout - I would recommend taking pencil to paper for this one. You do not want to open up InDesign or Illustrator and start experimenting with different layouts. Even if you just take the time to do a mock up of the first couple pages of your white paper, this will at least give you an idea of where you want to go and help in keeping things consistent. 
3. Design - There are many design questions that you have to think about before starting your white paper. Are the colors you have chosen complimentary or do they clash? Is the text easy to read? Does the typeface reflect the feeling of the product you are talking about? Do you have enough images, graphs, pull-out quotes, etc.?
4. Content - Perhaps it would be best to start this part in Microsoft Word and then transfer it into Adobe to prevent spelling and grammatical mishaps. In general, however, content is tricky because you are often challenged by fitting the hundreds of pages of research you (should) have done into a roughly ten-page format while still being creative. Choosing what to highlight can be daunting, but try to think of the information that best suites the audience to whom you are tailoring your white paper.
5. Revision - This goes without saying, but all work needs revision. After the fourth or fifth run-through you may find a glaring grammatical issue that had previously escaped you. Maybe on round six you notice that the alignment is off on the last page. Of course, eventually the white paper has to be finalized, but if you have the time for one more revision, take it. 

While the white paper I have written was intended for academic purposes, I contacted the company to receive permission to use photos, quotes, and content to create the white paper so that I could include it in my professional portfolio. I even offered that they be able to see it once completed. Although it was my first time writing a white paper, I felt that the experience was a beneficial one. Being able to write a white paper is a great skill for any writer to have in their wheelhouse. I recently contacted an old job asking if they had any need for a white paper and they said that they had just been discussing it. If I can land just one project and really impress, then maybe it will become a skill that I can use in the long term.

For now, if you have any interest in practicing your white paper skills, I would start by Googling "white paper" and see what comes up. Look through a couple examples and see what types of articles people are writing. With some determination, this is definitely something that any good writer can learn.