Cut the Fluff is a weekly newsletter that will help you become a more confident writer & editor. If this was sent to you, subscribe here so you don't miss the next lesson. Hey Reader, "It's just, I feel like, ugh — this is hard to say." "Just tell me already!" "I don't want this to come out wrong..." "Honestly, just say what you mean." "OK. I feel like you're...struggling around certain people in my life." "HUH? What do you mean by that?" "FINE. I'll just come out and say it. I feel like you don't like my friends." 👆This is an example of a conversation we've all been a part of in our lives. Even if we're desperate to change something, we're scared to say what we really mean because it'll have consequences. What does this have to do with content? Well, we often don't say what we mean when we're writing. But not because we're scared of the consequences (in most cases). Instead... We say the wrong thing because we don't know exactly what we want to say in the first place. In the example above, person 1 was intentionally hedging when they said, "I feel like you're struggling around certain people in my life." But you'd be shocked at how often we let sentences like that into our writing. No wonder readers are like, "HUH?" This is yet another reason why editing is so damn important. Until you look at and analyze what you wrote, you won't know if it's aligned with your intention. This is why, in Content Sparring 🥊 sessions, as well as every piece I've edited over my career, the most common question I ask is: "What do you mean by this?" Every single time, the answer clients give me is different than what they wrote down. Why does this phenomenon happen? The interpretation gapWriting is thinking in real-time. No wonder our first drafts are half-baked — we're still thinking through what we want to say as we say it. Even with an outline, we don't yet know what claims we're going to make and how we'll support them. We're figuring it out as we go. Our words are simply placeholders for unfinished thoughts. This is why our first drafts often collapse under scrutiny. (And why they deserved to be scrutinized in the first place, either by ourselves or by others.) We think our sentences say what they are meant to say because we haven’t paid attention to what they actually say. Let me give you an exampleOriginal sentence: "Capture readers’ attention and inspire them in ways they didn’t know were possible.” My questions: What do you mean by “in ways they didn’t know were possible”? What are the real outcomes here? The jobs to be done? The first edit: "Capture readers' attention in a way that provokes thought, starts new conversations, and changes minds." My thoughts: That's much better. You've gotten specific about the outcomes. But why do these outcomes matter? What's the point of provoking thought? Changing minds? What's the deeper point? The final edit: "Capture readers' attention in a way that provokes thought, starts new conversations, and changes minds. When you create anti-generic content that's actually interesting to read, you build credibility and turn skeptical readers into loyal fans." The result: We now have a sentence that's specific, says what we mean, and ties benefits to outcomes. Boom. If you want to learn how to do this for yourself, go read my quick 4-step process to say what you actually mean. My new Content Sparring 🥊 offerOver the past month, I've been building my new offer in public on LinkedIn. But I haven't talked much about it here. So, in case you missed it, I wanted to share this exciting revelation with you. 5 weeks ago, I realized my 1:1 positioning was all wrong. I've got low-ticket courses for all levels of writers and was trying to do the same thing with my 1:1 offer. It didn't work. I tried to sell editing coaching, but people were like, "What's that?" THE CONTENT TYPES I'm helping people with their social posts, newsletters, email sequences, landing pages, and even course content. Anything I've got experience with myself is fair game. This means any paid stuff like ads is off the table (I've yet to dabble in paid). If you're reading this and thinking, "Hey, this fits who I am and where I'm at with my content" reply to this email with the boxing glove 🥊 and let's have a chat :) If you're not there yet, I've got 3 courses you can check out below instead 👇 Just got this testimonial for Long to Short and it's freaking awesome. I mean, look at the metaphors! "It's like looking at the sky through kaleidoscope eyes where possibilities are endless." It's like a freaking Taylor Swift lyric. Beautiful. Cheers, Erica Check out my 3 courses that 1600+ people have taken, loved, and gotten meaningful results from: 1. Long to Short: Turn one long-form piece into a month's worth of posts. A step-by-step system to repurpose, remix, and remaster your best ideas. 2. Hooked on Writing Hooks: Turn your ideas into content that actually gets consumed. Learn to write scroll-stopping hooks on social without resorting to clickbait nonsense that feels inauthentic. 3. Content Editing 101. Kill decision fatigue and build confidence as a writer and editor. A look inside a professional editor's workflow & best practices. Packed with lessons, examples, and a roadmap so you can stop second-guessing your writing & editing decisions. Each course is AI-powered 🪄 You can go through them manually or use AI to play, get it done faster, and test your new skills in real time. My friend & prompt genius Rob Lennon wrote all the prompts and bots for the courses. What'd you think of today's email? Reply and let me know. Erica Schneider |
Learn to edit words like a pro. I've edited 3M+ words and each week, I share a lesson to teach you what to cut, how to add value, and how to finally feel confident when editing. Every subscriber gets access to my Editing Library, a database of 62 edits broken down by the problem, my take on how to improve it, and my edited version.
Cut the Fluff is a newsletter that will help you become a more confident writer, even if you're not a "writer." If this was sent to you, subscribe here so you don't miss the next lesson. Hey Reader, When I went solo in October '23, my naivety came across as charming. I went on podcasts and waxed lyrical about how I "bet on myself so I could reach my potential." People listened and sent me "damn, that resonated" messages (like this one) in droves: At the time, I found the whole experience so...
Cut the Fluff is a newsletter that will help you become a more confident writer, even if you're not a "writer." If this was sent to you, subscribe here so you don't miss the next lesson. Hey Reader, I'm in the mood to give away my entire launch strategy. Maybe it's the spring air. Maybe it's the fact that the IRS just took all my money. Maybe it's because my 2.5-year-old twins slept until 830am this morning. Either way, let's spread some love. The MP3 Launch Content Ebook What's inside this...
Hey Reader, Apparently having twins, running a group coaching program, creating new products, writing this newsletter, and sparring with clients wasn't enough chaos in my life... So I launched a podcast and started a Substack this month. At this point, I'm convinced I run on pure adrenaline and questionable decision-making skills. But here's the method to my madness: I'm launching this new Substack with Nick Bennett because we wanted to create a dedicated space to dive deeper into...