Writers Benefit From Cutting Words

"When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done."
                                     ---Stephen King  

 All we need to do is look at the success Stephen King has had in the writing world and we should know immediately that his advice is to be taken seriously. Let's face it--the man knows what he's talking about. Somewhere between writing horror stories that the public eagerly awaits, Mr. King has taken time to offer his thoughts and advice to other writers. If you have not read his book, On Writing, you are missing one of the finest books on our craft. Part memoir and part writing class, it is down to earth and a good read.

He does not address his genre of writing per se. He speaks to all writers. I used his quote on cutting your story, essay or poem as you rewrite, revise, edit--all of these--to bring an important point to you today.

One of the most difficult things we writers must do is to cut our words. Those words are precious. Each and every one. The old Less is more can be applied here when reasoning why you would want to slash away at the prose piece you've slaved over for days. That 'excess fat' as King terms it can cover up the good part of what you've written and you don't want to do that.

What can you cut without losing the strong part of your story?

If you use two, or even three, adjectives to describe a noun, consider cutting until you have only one left. Make it the strongest one.

Cut adverbs. They throw you into that telling mode over and over again.

Cut the ham sandwich. All the reader needs is the meat; toss the bread. We don't need every little mundane detail, things like how a man got up from his chair, then walked slowly to the front door, then opened the door. All we need to know is that the man answered the door. The reader doesn't care about how he got to the door. Unless how he got there is important to the story. Usually, it isn't.

Cut anything that has no importance to the story. Many writers use backstory to explain something. Doing so takes precious words and often becomes so long that the reader loses the original train of thought. Instead of backstory, weave the details in and out of the main story.

Many calls for submissions give a maximum word count. If the editors specify 1200 words, they don't mean that you can overflow to 1500. If your story is 300 words over the limit, you have some work to do. Besides the above suggestions, you can shorten many sentences by finding another way to say whatever. Is it possible to cut 300 words from a 1500 word story? You bet it is. I know because I've done it.

By cutting and cutting some more, dumping that 'excess fat,' is going to leave you with a stronger piece of writing.

If you'd like to see a summary of Stephen King's book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, read this review. Even after reading it, you might want to purchase a copy of the book or check it out of your local library so you can read the whole thing. I think you'll find it of great interest. Meanwhile, start looking at places to cut your words. Even poems can benefit from losing a few words.