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Hey Reader,

In my welcome email, I ask each of you a question:

"What is your biggest struggle with self-editing?"

Today, I want to answer one of the responses I got because it's such a common concern and I have so many thoughts on it.

Here's the reply:

"I suppose my biggest struggle with self-editing would be that I'm worried I will lose the authenticity of my writing if I cut away at what I instinctually wrote in the first place."

I'm breaking my answer into mindset shifts, based on the subscriber's word choices.

Mindset shift 1: Cutting isn't bad

"cut away at"

Oooof. Can you feel it? It's like a horror movie where the scary monster is approaching your hard work with sharp, soulless scissors.

If you missed my newsletter from 2 weeks ago, "The Interpretation Gap" go read it.

The takeaway = as we're writing we literally don't know what we want to say yet.

This is why we all struggle to say what we mean in draft 1.

We ramble, we hedge, and we throat clear because we're still thinking.

For the sake of your reader, that rambly mess must be edited.

You should welcome the scissors with open arms, not shy away from them.

"Cool, Erica, I read this newsletter every week and I understand editing is important. But how do I cut my words without cutting my authenticity?"

Great question.

Mindset shift 2: Authentic writing is a myth

"I will lose the authenticity of my writing"

I ranted a bit about authenticity on LinkedIn last week.

This word has become more watered down than a cocktail at an all-inclusive resort.

As I said in my post, the only thing you need to stand out and make your writing "so you" is a bit of personality.

You don't need to be vulnerable, share a transformation story, or wax lyrical about a time you failed.

Those things help people know, like, and trust you, sure, but you can have "authentic" posts that are simply educational without much of your experience in them.

In other words:

Personality in your writing > "Authentic" writing

This subscriber is worried about cutting his personality out of his writing.

First, see #1: cutting is a good thing.

My personality when I speak includes tons of verbs and adjectives like "super" and "really" and "omg" and "ugh, I dunno" and "dude."

If I ever keep those in the final cut, it's an intentional choice. I want you to see some of my personality come through, but I don't want all the fluff. It's a balance.

But, my friends, personality does not only = word choice.

Personality is how you involve the reader in your writing.

It's the moments you pause to allow room for unspoken conversation.

It's the invisible back-and-forth that breaks the monologue and invites the reader into your world.

Take this post I wrote a few weeks ago as an example:

Those 4 lines that I highlighted are what I call "the pause effect."

As the author, I am intentionally pausing to break the 4th wall and speak directly to the reader.

If you remove those 4 lines it does not break the narrative flow. The post reads just fine without them.

But it also reads like it could've been written by...anyone.

My personality disappears as fast as those watered-down drinks at the pool bar.

And just like the drinker, we all feel nothing.

Personality is about making readers feel something.

Get it? Got it. Goodies.

Mindset shift 3: Instinct isn't always good

"what I instinctually wrote in the first place."

The more you write, the more you learn that your instinct isn't always right.

For example, my instinct is to put a parenthetical at the end of every sentence (like this, cuz I wanna).

But I've learned to edit it out because a smooth read that would not make.

The best thing you can do as a writer is understand what you instinctually do, pay attention to how it lands, and edit accordingly.

Do you think every comedian gets on stage and has success with their most instinctual jokes?

Hell no. Their jokes go through dozens of rounds of edits before they make it to the main stage and into our overpriced Netflix accounts.

Your job is to find the balance.

Your job is to scrutinize your instinct and go, "Was this the right instinct here, or, nah?"

I know that we're all the stars of our own Lifetime movies, but that doesn't mean every choice we make is correct.

Instincts can mislead us.

As writers, we need to accept that our instinct may not always be right and instead get curious about it, then act accordingly.

This isn't an easy topic but I hope I've helped a bit today!

You know what else helps? An editing course with an entire module full of mindset shifts to help you stop fearing editing. Plus, tons of copyediting and developmental editing lessons that are designed to make you incrementally better every day.

​Kasturi is a B2B content writer who took my course and said it made her a 10x better self-editor.

I freaking love to see it!

Comments like this truly make my day.

If you aren't aware, all 3 of my courses have parity pricing, which means you pay based on where you live.

Visit the sales pages to see the discount you get :)

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

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