Writing
A good editor is someone who uses deliberate subtraction to actually add life to the ideas, setting, plot, and characters
#084 ✰ are you an essentialist?
Good editing means taking away things that don't help the story so the important parts can shine and feel alive.
If your text isn’t working, your first thought may be that it lacks something. So you try to add in what’s missing. But sometimes, you can actually improve your text more by cutting it down.
Doug Kessler • How to Write Clearly
Copywriting tip:
Write your full headline idea, then delete the first 4-5 words.
Why?
Your original first line is almost always throat-clearing.
Chopping it down usually gives you a cleaner idea.
Blake Emalx.comLately, when I’m stuck on a piece, I will print everything I’ve written and re-read it with a pair of scissors in hand. As I go, I will cut out the pieces that feel like they’re working: a phrase here, a sentence there, entire paragraphs if I’m lucky. Then I’ll lay out all the cut-out pieces on my desk and move them around, trying to find the right... See more
Mason Currey • Seek funny leaps
To be brief on the sentence-level, remove words that don’t add necessary context. Extra words cause readers to slow down and do extra work. That makes it harder for them to recognize the sentence’s point. And when you exhaust readers, they quit reading.
Julian Shapiro • Writing Well - Part 3 - Rewriting and Editing
If you’re not sure what a word means, don’t use it. If you’re struggling to structure a sentence, break it up. Simple writing is easy for you, as well as your reader.
Doug Kessler • How to Write Clearly
My version of the inverted pyramid uses the ‘five Es’: Essentials: What the reader absolutely must know about your message (from the plan you made in chapter 3) Explanation: More detail to fill out the reader’s knowledge, including links to what they already know (chapter 14) Examples: Different perspectives (chapter 15), metaphors (chapter 13) or
... See more