Hey Reader,

Yes, this newsletter is called Cut the Fluff. But that’s only because Cut the Fluff to Add Value was too long.

Welcome to the first issue, where I’ll immediately challenge your thinking:

Editing is not a cutting exercise—it’s a value-adding exercise.

Because even when you’re cutting fluff, redundancy, and wordiness, you’re adding value.

And when you remove friction, you add clarity.

But removal isn’t the only way to add value. Sometimes, editing requires addition, where you add missing context, details, examples, and takeaways.

This is why I dismiss editing as purely a cutting exercise. And why I loathe most editing advice on social media and page 1 of Google. It’s overly simplistic. It forces you into a scissor fight with imaginary clouds—aimlessly Edward Scissor-handing your way through your document.

“The internet says I need to cut 30%, then another 30%...”

Don’t get me wrong: I want you to keep cutting things. But I will challenge you to cut with intention, add with intention, and edit with intention.

That’s why I started this newsletter: to help you think about editing in a new light.

I want you to feel confident when you review a body of work you’re proud of, yet you need to kill some darlings. To help you elevate a piece of content you know could be better, but can’t quite put your finger on what’s missing. To edit without sanitizing your personality, even though you’ve been trained to do the opposite.

I’ve edited 3M+ words over the past 6 years. That’s a lot of words. Someone said the other day that I’ve probably forgotten more about editing than they even know.

While I’ve shared heaps about editing online, I haven’t collated it meaningfully. This newsletter is the starting point.

Each issue will have one written lesson accompanied by a Loom video.

We’ll start next week with our first lesson: redundancy.

Redundancy is the unnecessary repetition of ideas or words. It adds friction to the reading experience because readers feel, “Didn’t you say this already?” This split-second speed bump pulls readers out of flow and into distraction.

Here’s an example:

And here’s a clip from a Loom feedback video I gave to someone in my cohort last week (shared with permission):

I can’t wait to dig in more.

Catch you next Friday!

Cheers,

Erica

When you're ready for more, here's how I can help:

1. ​Hooked on Writing Hooks - my collaboration with Rob Lennon goes off the market again in 3 days ⏱️
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Erica Schneider

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