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Hey Reader,

“What do I actually mean by this?”

This one question can transform your writing.

It’s so simple, but writers don’t ask themselves this nearly enough.

Which is why we end up with sentences like:

“Done right, you’ll win hearts and minds.”

WTF does that mean?

It’s so general. It’s up to interpretation. It makes the reader stop and think, “I wonder what they mean by that?”

You know what that pause does to flow?

It obliterates it.

And when readers fall out of flow, they stop reading your content. Why would they continue to invest their time in something that makes them furrow their brow?

There’s an easy fix.

Lesson: General → Specific

When you ask yourself, “What do I mean by this?” I promise your answer will be more specific than what you wrote.

Somewhere in that answer lies your edit.

I can’t emphasize enough how simple this exercise is.

Step 1: Re-read your work

When you’re done writing, take time away, then come back and re-read it.

Every single time you come across a general statement, stop.

Step 2: Ask yourself, “What do I mean by this?”

If you’re asking in your head, write the answer down.

If you’re asking out loud, record your answer.

It doesn’t matter how rambly what you say is—note it.

Step 3: Sift through your answer for gold

Somewhere in your messy answer lies a pot of gold.

Allow me to demonstrate.

Original sentence:

“Done right, you’ll win hearts and minds.”

What do I mean by this?

“Well, I mean that if you do this process right, people will remember you for the right reasons. They’ll feel excited that you helped them through a difficult moment, and so they’ll feel more connected to you. So yeah basically they’ll feel like they can trust you more and next time they have a problem you’ll be top of mind.”

Sift for gold:

Let’s pull out the key phrases from that ramble:

• remember you for the right reasons
• feel more connected to you
• feel like they can trust you
• next time they have a problem you’ll be top of mind

Those are already 11x better than the original sentence because they’re more specific!

You can visualize what the writer means. You don’t have to guess. It’s clear.

Step 4: Rewrite your sentence

Original sentence:

“Done right, you’ll win hearts and minds.”

New sentence:

“Done right, you’ll build trust with potential clients. Your offer will be top of mind because they'll remember you for the right reasons."

Holy shit, it makes sense!

How easy was that?

You can use this method in every single part of your writing. From hooks through your body, specificity wins.

Try this exercise this week, and let me know how it goes!

Cheers,

Erica

P.S. The reviews from the 166 people who bought Content Editing 101 are rolling in, and I’m humbled every time I read one.

One of my favorites so far is from Michael. He wrote:

“I had instinctually applied some of these ideas in edits over the years, but it was empowering to finally define everything with frameworks. I had a draft open as I went through the course and watched it improve by at least 20% after applying what I learned.”

20% improvement already?! I love it. This is why I create courses. To help people at scale in a way that's simply impossible in any other setting.

If you want to see results like Michael's, grab Content Editing 101 now.​

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

Erica Schneider

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