Taking Your Copy from Potential to Polished

Like any discipline, writing takes practice. We came across a Twitter thread designed to help you turn your first draft into your final draft.

Here are five steps Twitter user Ben Putano, author and writing coach, follows to make sure their writing is top notch.

🧠 Concepting

You can’t have a compelling story without a foundation. Instead of just dumping all your information in a doc, Ben suggests tying your stats and data into a cohesive narrative that readers can follow.

Specifically, try to answer, “So what are you really trying to say? What's the main takeaway for your reader? WHY are you writing in the first place?”

Make sure your concept is crystal clear before moving to the next step.

🛠 Structure

Start with your intro and make sure it hooks readers. When in doubt, follow Ben’s copywriting framework:

A - Attention

B - BIG change

C - "Why should I CARE?"

1 - Solution

2 - "Why YOU?"

3 - Urgency

📝 Line editing

Delivering your messaging in as few words as possible is a tough skill to master. In the line editing stage, review your copy line by line and cut anything that isn’t needed or doesn’t add to the story.

Here’s what Ben suggests asking yourself:

  • Is it necessary? (Hint: If you’re not sure, cut it)
  • Is it clear?
  • Is it interesting?
  • How can it be simpler?

When in doubt, rewrite or cut.

✍️ Copy editing

This is the step in the editing process that people are most familiar with. Review your spelling, grammar, and word choices.

This is a great stage to use your editing tools or softwares. We’re big fans of editing software, reply to this email and tell us your favorite!

😎 Proofreading and formatting

Give your writing a final review and ensure everything looks and reads well. For us, this is the stage where we make sure there are no long-winded paragraphs, check our fonts and spacing, and add in our sprinkle of emojis. ✨

Whether you’re writing ads, Instagram captions, or newsletters like us, try out these steps to see if your process improves.

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