5 Things You Should Remove from Your Writing to Make It Irresistible

Subtraction is the most effective way to boost your writing.

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

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Many Substack writers think that to make their writing stronger and grow faster, they need to do more.

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14 years ago, when I became a first-time manager, I thought that my long to-do list showed I was doing a lot of important things.

I was active and initiative. I believed the more tasks I completed, the better results I achieved. And I did a lot.

But after some time, I discovered that:

1. My to-do list expanded more and more. Because I kept adding tasks to it.

2. By the end of the week, one or two of the most important things could be undone. And I spent extra hours to complete them.

Something was wrong.

I asked my line manager for advice. He was a great person and an inspiring leader. We are still good friends.

He listened to me carefully.

Then he said:

“You know I always start Mondays by thinking about tasks I need to complete during the week. I chose the focus. Usually, it’s 1-3 crucial things that are not urgent but strategically important to deliver business results. Then I schedule the time in my calendar to work on them. And make sure they are done. The rest I either complete based on urgency and their importance, delegate, or eliminate.”

It hit me like a lightning strike.

To achieve more, you don’t need to do more. You need to focus on what’s important in the long term.

I began focusing on 1-3 key strategic things. It helped me achieve more by doing less. And successfully deliver several great long-term projects on my way to the director level.

We have this tendency to add more.

It feels productive when you do a lot. We add and add, and add. Until nothing is done or we quit.

The same goes for writing.

We try to cover more topics. Expand our niche. Use a metaphor. Add a story. We think it will make our writing more impactful.

But the easiest way to boost your writing is subtraction.

Clean up the mess first. Add valuable stuff later. That’s the way.

Remove these 5 things to make your writing irresistible.

1. Stop writing about everything

I am not a fan of having a niche from the start.

However, as I tried to write about everything at the beginning of my writing journey, I found that if you do it like that, you write about nothing. And instead of attracting everyone, you attract no one.

The best solution is to write about areas you enjoy and are interested in, but these areas should be clearly identified and written down.

Take just big enough areas like Life, Health, Self-Improvement, etc. I would recommend listing 5–10 of such areas.

An example of my list looked like this when I was a new writer:

1. Writing

2. Online Business

3. Self-Improvement

4. Life Lessons

5. Health

2. Don’t treat every writing session as the first one

This is a mistake 99% of new writers make (me included).

They treat every writing session as the first one and start from scratch. They think they should not disrupt the natural flow of their thoughts because writing is an art. And nothing should limit it.

As a result, every time they sit to write, they stare at a blank page, try to gather their thoughts, and write a couple of sentences, struggling a lot.

Such writers lose their time, effort, motivation, and don’t move forward. They lost momentum before they started to build it. Then they are surprised that others have outgrown them by publishing daily.

Stop reinventing the typewriter every time you sit down to write.

You will make your writing much easier if you build systems that you can reuse every writing session to boost your efficiency as a writer.

Create templates, frameworks, and cheat sheets to write faster and produce more content. They don’t disrupt writing flow, but direct it in the right way. Develop a process that helps you write consistently. Because regular publishing is a bare minimum to stay afloat, not a silver bullet for online success.

To grow online, you need to focus on growth.

It won’t happen by itself. That’s why proper tools will help you free your time from content generation to growing online. And the growth requires a lot of it.

3. Stop being unclear

If you want your writing to be irresistible, make it clear.

You can do it by putting statements in a positive form.

Many writers struggle to make clear statements. You can feel through their writing the lack of confidence they have in what they say. If a writer is unsure of what he says, how can readers be confident in what they read?

And if readers lack confidence, they stop reading.

Make clear statements. Avoid uncertain, colorless, ambiguous, and tame language.

Use “not” for denial, never for evasion.

Let me show you an example.

He was not completely honest with her.

It looks like we are unsure.

He was half-honest, or what?

Can you be half-honest?

He was dishonest with her.

This is much clearer.

The reader is unsatisfied with only finding what is not. The reader wants to find what is.

It’s better to use the positive form when writing, even for negative sentences.

unsure > not sure

late > not on time

dishonest > not honest

ignore > don’t pay attention

unimpressed > not impressed

4. Cut complexity

Many writers want to look smarter by using more complex language.

But they get the opposite effect. Because simple writing is more persuasive, more pleasant to read, develops the reader’s confidence, and helps the reader relate. Thus, it’s more impactful.

I used to complicate my sentences, but there is no need to do so.

There are easier word options with the same meaning. Here is what I am talking about:

Utilize -> Use

Obtain -> Get

Terminate -> End

Indicate -> Point out

Demonstrate -> Show

Don’t add complexity, simplify.

5. Quit being uncertain

Personal conversations and writing are different.

Being soft and gentle works well in conversation. But it doesn’t work in writing. Writing requires strong and direct language.

Be certain

Readers will fail to resist your confidence.

Using soft language in writing is a mistake. Maybe, probably, and similar words should be deleted. I think, in my opinion, might, could need to be dropped too.

Here is what I am talking about:

Soft: It could be a good idea to test this first. Maybe we’ll learn something important from it.

Direct: Test this first. You will learn something important.

Soft: You might want to add a few more examples to this article. It could help your readers understand your point better.

Direct: Add more examples. They will help your readers understand your point.

Be certain, it will make your writing irresistible.

Have a beautiful day!

Talk soon,

Maxim

P.S. Remove complexity, writer’s block, and overthinking.

My templates make writing easy for you by giving you structure, clarity, and clear path forward. So, you can focus on growing online.