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3-2-1 Fridays: 3 Things I Learned About Writing From Erica Schneider of Grizzle

3-2-1 Fridays: 3 Things I Learned About Writing From Erica Schneider of Grizzle

18 Nov

Hey friend, welcome to today’s issue of Efikó. This newsletter by Dozie Anyaegbunam helps you make smarter decisions in content marketing and life. Anyway, hello, it’s good to see you. You’re doing great 😀

Hey everyone,

How’s your Friday turning out?

Mine has been a mixed bag.

AbdulGaniy Shehu (thanks man) included my newsletter on a list of marketing newsletters to follow. His list had many of my content marketing heroines and heroes on it.

Then I found out this morning I lost a childhood friend. This world is such a mess.

Here is some good news — Content Queen Erica Schneider of Grizzle is writing Friday’s Deep Dive. So, I’ll share three things I learned from shadowing her awesomeness this Friday and the next.

Let’s explore that last point in more detail.

3 Things I Learned About Writing From Erica Schneider of Grizzle

i.

Parallelism is the difference between easy, smooth content and tacky content.

Ignore parallel construction when writing, and your ideas come off as muddled. Your writing also lacks rhythm and balance.

Here’s an example:

❌ Dozie had to shop, do the laundry, and clean before writing his newsletter.

✅ Dozie had to do the shopping, laundry, and cleaning before writing his newsletter.

The difference? Option 1 seems a bit disjointed. Option 2 is easier to read.

And here’s the funny but unfortunate thing. Your readers intuitively correct sentences with faulty parallelism because no one likes to read a sentence that sounds poorly constructed.

There are tons of ways to use parallelism, but here are the three I use most often:

When a coordinating conjunction joins phrases or sentences (and, but, or).

❌ Dozie wants to finish college, and becoming an engineer would be his next goal.

✅ Dozie wants to finish college and become an engineer.

In lists or series

❌ Grizzle is looking to hire a content writer who is detailed, friendly, and submits drafts on time.

✅ Grizzle is looking to hire a content writer who is thorough, friendly, and reliable.

Linking verbs

❌ To know her is loving her

✅ To know her is to love her

ii.

Every paragraph in an article is an argument. Make the wrong or fluffy one, and your reader bounces off.

Erica has some of the best frameworks I have seen for tightening up the arguments we make across an article. Here’s one framework I find myself using a lot these days: SCQA

Situation (summary)

Complication (problem)

Question (what to do?)

Answer (solution)

This helps you to:

Set the stage
Poke the pain point
Build intrigue
Dangle the solution

Here’s an example:

Situation: You need to work with high-paying clients to earn more as a content writer.

Pain point: That’s easier said than done (these clients don’t fall off trees).

Draw the reader in: So, how do you attract high-paying clients?

Dangle the solution: Create a strong network and demonstrate social proof.

The solution leaves your reader wanting more. To learn more, they must read more.

iii.

Intros are probably the most challenging part of content writing. Well, for me.

Here are a couple of tips from Erica on winning with your intro:

Don't start introductions with:

-X is hard

-Not many people X

-You’ve likely used X

-Did you know that X?

-Everybody experiences X

-You probably already know X

-You might have already seen X

-The first question you need to think about is X

And that’s it for today, folks. Come December 2nd, 2022, Erica Schneider will be doing a deep dive on writing great introductions. I can’t wait.

2 Things I am Thinking About

i.

The problem is not the problem. The problem is your emotions and attachment to the problem.

Sounds fluffy. But I think there’s some value in stepping back and watching our emotions when a problem arises instead of reacting. The mere act of watching the emotion means we act, not react. And there’s a massive difference in the outcome.

ii.

“Quit, don’t quit. Noodles, don’t noodles… You are too concerned with what was and what will be. There’s a saying, ‘yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”

Master Oogway to Kungfu Panda