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Day 5: When to delete your writing

Cohort Day

Hey there, 

We’re on to the final step of The Publishing Process — a 4-part framework to separate the writing process into separate steps.

Our last tip covered Step 3 of The Publishing Process: Substance Draft.

This email covers the Clarity Draft.

🎯 Clarity Draft

The goal of the Clarity Draft is to edit and publish your post. 

There are two important considerations when editing: “So What?” and Cut the Bad.

So What?

Before you start the Clarity Draft, ask yourself “So What?” 

Choose a single person from your intended audience and ensure that your post answers “So What” for that person. What’s the purpose of this post? Do you clearly and concisely convey your main point?

If you determine that the post hasn’t answered this, go back to Step 3 (Substance Draft) and add additional writing to ensure you’ve answered this question.

Cut the Bad

The focus of the Clarity Draft is to remove the bad writing so we can be left with the good. 

This is painful. After all, you wrote these words! They’re valuable!

However, you must be willing to cut your writing. The more you can cut from your writing while still articulating your message, the better the writing will be. 

When cutting, consider if you’re simply rephrasing something you’ve already said. Every word counts. 

Again, this is difficult. Here’s a trick: create an archive section of the page where you can move “potential deletions.”  (You’ll find you rarely come back to these). 

Once you’ve cut non-essential writing, you can start to prepare to publish.

Publish

Now, move your writing to your publishing platform and prepare to publish.

At this stage, read it aloud to check for errors. Run it through Grammarly or other editing tools to catch grammatical mistakes. 

In the end, this stage is all about mindset.

Remember that you’ll never write a perfect post. Remember the potential opportunities that come with publishing. Hit publish and be proud of your work! 

Go Deeper:

AI is changing the world. And it can be helpful in the editing process. Learn more here: Revolutionizing the Editing Process with AI

Check out “Copy of Writing Tips Email Sequence” for a copy of every email in this series

Check out Cohort Resources for all resources

Explore the Notion Home for cohort-specific information, like the Leaderboard

Day 5: When to delete your writing

Cohort Day

Hey there, 

We’re on to the final step of The Publishing Process — a 4-part framework to separate the writing process into separate steps.

Our last tip covered Step 3 of The Publishing Process: Substance Draft.

This email covers the Clarity Draft.

🎯 Clarity Draft

The goal of the Clarity Draft is to edit and publish your post. 

There are two important considerations when editing: “So What?” and Cut the Bad.

So What?

Before you start the Clarity Draft, ask yourself “So What?” 

Choose a single person from your intended audience and ensure that your post answers “So What” for that person. What’s the purpose of this post? Do you clearly and concisely convey your main point?

If you determine that the post hasn’t answered this, go back to Step 3 (Substance Draft) and add additional writing to ensure you’ve answered this question.

Cut the Bad

The focus of the Clarity Draft is to remove the bad writing so we can be left with the good. 

This is painful. After all, you wrote these words! They’re valuable!

However, you must be willing to cut your writing. The more you can cut from your writing while still articulating your message, the better the writing will be. 

When cutting, consider if you’re simply rephrasing something you’ve already said. Every word counts. 

Again, this is difficult. Here’s a trick: create an archive section of the page where you can move “potential deletions.”  (You’ll find you rarely come back to these). 

Once you’ve cut non-essential writing, you can start to prepare to publish.

Publish

Now, move your writing to your publishing platform and prepare to publish.

At this stage, read it aloud to check for errors. Run it through Grammarly or other editing tools to catch grammatical mistakes. 

In the end, this stage is all about mindset.

Remember that you’ll never write a perfect post. Remember the potential opportunities that come with publishing. Hit publish and be proud of your work! 

Go Deeper:

AI is changing the world. And it can be helpful in the editing process. Learn more here: Revolutionizing the Editing Process with AI

Check out “Copy of Writing Tips Email Sequence” for a copy of every email in this series

Check out Cohort Resources for all resources

Explore the Notion Home for cohort-specific information, like the Leaderboard