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Hey Reader,

People think editing is all about words.

Cutting words, adding words, moving words around.

But editing is so much more than that...

To me, editing is about feeling.

Why?

Because the best writing makes you feel something. Educated, empowered, inspired, curious, delighted.

If readers aren't feeling what they're meant to, you haven't done your job as a writer.

So, your first question when you run an edit should be:

"Does this make me feel the way I intended?"

And your second question should be:

"Will the reader feel this way, too?"

Once you've accomplished this, then and only then do things like word choice, sentence structure, redundancy, and all that copy editing goodness come into play.

I think people write off editing because they assume it's a check-the-box exercise. But really, it's a check-the-feeling exercise.

This is why, when you edit, you need to be an emotional detective:

• What's the reader going through in their life?
• What are they struggling with?
• What makes them happy?
• What pisses them off?
• What do they want?
• What do they need?
• Where do they want to be?
• What's holding them back?
• What limiting beliefs do they have?
• What does their inner critic have to say about it?

It's hard to get this right on a first draft.

Because often, we're so embedded in what we're writing that we assume the reader is on the exact same page.

So we write sentences like:

"Capture readers’ attention and inspire them in ways they didn’t know were possible."

If I'm a new writer trying to learn how actually to get people to read my stuff, this doesn't speak to me. It goes right over my head. It's unspecific, unmemorable (ironically), and makes me feel...nothing.

So, say you wrote this sentence. During a self-edit, ask yourself out loud: "Will the reader feel inspired by this sentence?"

Hopefully, the answer is an objective "no."

Here's how we can edit it to light up emotions:

"Capture readers' attention by creating content that's actually interesting to read. Be anti-generic. Share your unique experiences. Dare to be bold, authentic, YOU. This is the best way to turn skeptical readers into loyal fans."

Can you feel the difference?

Obviously, this needs way more context and a ton of details on how to actually do it.

But the first sentence makes you feel like you're in a real-life cliché. While the second one hits on wants and needs, speaks to things that piss them off, and paints a way through.

So, put your detective hat on. I promise it'll help make your writing more memorable.

Cheers,

Erica

PS: Long to Short drops in a few days...

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​Register your interest here.​

Heads up, I'm gonna email you more than usual this week during the launch :)

​

Erica Schneider

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