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Hey Reader,

The best writers I know are highly intuitive. They can feel when their words are going to resonate and make an impact.

If you’re going, “Damn, this isn’t me,” don’t worry—it comes with practice.

But if you’re nodding and going, “Yep, I can feel when it’s good,” don’t get too excited yet, either.

Intuition is a double-edged sword.

The more connected you are to how your writing feels, the harder it is to look at it objectively.

Why does objectivity matter?

Because online writing is a game of strategy—it serves a purpose, has a mission, and is built to educate, inform, and persuade.

You can write the world’s most beautiful sentences back to back to back and still drive zero people to your website.

You can stun me with your brilliant ideas and still not convince me you’re the right person to solve my problem.

You can share thought-provoking claims but fail to convince readers due to poorly supported arguments.

The list goes on and on and on.

The only way to keep your intuition in check is to literally check it.

This is the power of editing.

It’s so much more than the afterthought so many people treat it as.

The creative process can feel like a drug, especially once you get good. You’ve got to remember to take a step away, shake it off, and check yourself.

Here’s a quick formula I love to follow to check if I’ve supported my arguments:

Claim → Support →Takeaway

If you want to present the strongest argument possible, you need to back up your claims and argue for their validity.

But when we’re in the zone and creating away, it’s so easy to make a bunch of claims and forget to support them.

Think about how these unsupported claims make you feel:

• “Logical writing is engaging writing.”
• “When writing online, you need to make it skimmable.”
• “Not every new marketing campaign is going to be a home run.”
• “If you want to grow your business, you must post on LinkedIn.”
• “The most successful businesses understand pricing psychology.”

Do you flat-out believe them? Or are you craving an explanation as to why?

I bet you want to know why. I certainly do.

The best way to keep readers hooked and persuade them to believe you is to support your claims.

Here’s the formula I follow:

1. Make a claim
2. Support it with evidence
3. End with a takeaway

Here’s the wonderful Wes Kao doing just that in a LinkedIn post:

The claim is that “modern professionals must master the art of skimmable writing.”

And the support is because it “reduces cognitive load for the reader.”

Understanding that it reduces cognitive load makes the claim so much stronger. Because you get why it’s valid, it makes you want to follow the advice.

Once you’ve supported your claim, you always want to end with a takeaway so readers have something to walk away with.

Here, Wes simply implies, “It’s a skill you’ll use every day.” She’s telling people to go learn it and use it. It’s an action item that empowers readers to put this skill into practice asap.

If they leave with a to-do, actually do it, and it works, they’ll remember who taught them, feel thankful, and come back for more advice. This is how you build credibility and trust—the most important results of content writing.

By the way, this is one of the topics I cover in Content Editing 101. Each lesson has an accompanying AI bot that my friend Rob Lennon built.

Since you’re on my email list, I’m giving you the Argument Amplifying bot for free. You’ll never go another day wondering if you didn’t support your arguments!

I popped one of the claims from above into it, and yep, it’s calling me out:

I'd edit its suggestion so it's more aligned with my audience and vibe, but that's all good—it caught the hole in my argument, which is what matters.

If you like it, want the prompt, and want to get better at checking your intuition, grab the full course here.

Catch you next week!

Erica

3 more ways to invest in yourself:

1. Grab Hooked on Writing Hooks. Join 644 students who've learned to write scroll-stopping hooks and finally get their content seen (without resorting to clickbait or BS tactics).

2. Grab Content Editing 101. 183 people have invested in editing skills so they can improve their writing and publish with confidence. This course teaches you how to edit your writing from a sentence-by-sentence and big-picture view.

3. Join Power Your Platform. Over 5,900 people read Power Your Platform to embrace their unique points of view and build real authority on social. Subscribe to my free newsletter with Kasey Jones if you're keen to finally grow authentically on social.

What'd you think of today's issue? Reply and let me know :)

Erica Schneider

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