The Blueprint
Before the writing begins, the story has to hold together.
Most reports get cobbled together in real time. A section here, a metric there, a CEO letter written last. The Blueprint is the work that happens before any of that, so the finished report reads like one coherent story instead of 15 department submissions stapled together.
This is the right starting point if you’re:
Kicking off a new reporting cycle and want to get the structure right this time
Reporting under a new framework and need to rethink the storyline
Coming off a previous report that “got the job done” but didn’t quite hang together
Working with multiple internal stakeholders who each have their own version of the story
The strategic foundation for your next report
Before the writing begins, we define what your report needs to say, how it should be structured and what will make it useful to the people reading it. The result is a practical editorial blueprint that gives your team clarity, direction and a stronger basis for every decision that follows.
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The table of contents, section by section, with a defined purpose for each.
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The 3–5 things the report has to land for your key stakeholders, whether that’s leadership, raters, employees, or the public.
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What gets emphasized, what gets summarized, what gets cut. Especially useful when you have 80 pages of source material and 60 pages of room.
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Designers, internal reviewers, framework reviewers, and your eventual writer (whether that’s me or someone in-house) all work from the same document. Cuts review cycles dramatically.
Your roadmap
What to expect
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Typically 3–4 weeks from kickoff to final architecture document.
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Fixed-fee engagement. Quoted after the fit call once we’ve talked through scope.
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2–4 months before drafting begins. The earlier we do this work, the more time it saves
What happens next
Once the architecture is set, you can:
Hand it to your in-house writer or comms team to draft against.
Hand it back to me for the writing phase — see The Report
We’ll talk through the right fit during the project.
Frequently asked questions
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That’s actually the ideal time to do it. The Blueprint document is built specifically so any competent writer — in-house or external — can draft against it. If you decide to bring me on for the writing afterward, great. If you don’t, the document still works.
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We’ll start there. Sometimes the existing structure is the right starting point and we’re refining it. Sometimes the existing structure is actually the problem, and last year’s report struggled because of it. The discovery work tells us which one we’re in.
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It’s substantially more than an outline. An outline tells you what sections exist. The Blueprint tells you what each section is for, what messages it has to land, what content gets priority, and how it connects to the section before and after it. It’s the difference between a table of contents and an editorial brief.
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Fixed fee, quoted after a fit call. I don’t bill hourly because hourly billing punishes the writer who works fast and rewards the one who pads timelines. You get a clear number and a clear scope up front, so you can plan and approve the budget without surprises. (The Partnership is the exception as it’s typically a monthly retainer.)
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Yes, routinely. Most sustainability reporting work involves pre-publication material, board-level conversations, and unreleased data. I’m used to working under NDA from the first call onward, and I can sign yours or send mine.
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It happens. Materiality results come in late, leadership changes, the board moves a meeting. I build a small amount of slack into every timeline, and for bigger shifts we’ll talk through what’s realistic and re-scope if we need to. I’d rather flag a problem early than miss a deadline quietly.
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Both. I subcontract to a small number of sustainability and brand agencies who bring me in as the senior writer on their team’s engagements. If you’re an agency considering me for a client project, the conversation is the same. Let’s hop on a fit call.
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The fit call is the answer. It’s 30 minutes, free, and we’ll both know by the end. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll let you know and point you toward someone who might be.