How intuition can help you write tight and mighty copy

We know about intuitive eating. It’s when you trust your body to tell you what food it wants, when.

We know about intuitive dating. It’s when you heed the thumbs-down emoji hovering over the head of the babbling madman who asked you to dinner, and politely decline dessert.

But intuitive editing? What’s that?

It’s when you read over what you’ve written and listen for the fizz, the crackle, the zing.

It’s when you scrap what doesn’t sizzle on the page like a hanger steak.

It’s when you edit by feel, not by formula.

Intuitive editing can help you tighten your writing, punch-ify your copy, and cut to the chase - instinctively.

And why is that important? A few different reasons.

If you’re workshopping a tagline, a bio or anything short and high-stakes, it requires charisma. It should sing and entertain and move readers like a regular Sammy Davis Jr.

If you’re writing a blog or an article, intuitive editing can help you shape the text into a thing of coherence and beauty - beyond the first-draft thicket.

Editing is a vital step in any creative process. Intuitive editing allows you to feel what to keep and what to cut.

I put it into practice just a moment ago.

After struggling for over an hour with a blog intro that sounded flat and forced, I moved my cursor down three paragraphs, started reading, and realised there, there was the place to start. Three paragraphs after my intended beginning!

How did I know? I could hear the writing change from trying-hard to ringing true. All I needed to do was listen (then bravely kill my darlings).

Ask yourself: does this sentence sizzle... or stink?

Keep practising. Make backspace your bestie. Trust your instincts.

You know when something’s good to eat.

You know when someone’s good to date.

And you know when something’s good to publish.