Cutting Words from Your Writing

 

The women in my online writing group request help in cutting words almost more than anything else. Many are writing toward a publication or a contest that sets a specific word count. When you are 100- 200 or more words over that number, something must be done.

Stephen King tells us to get rid of every ounce of excess fat. He knows from experience that this is not easy, that it hurts. 

Does cutting 200 words from your story or essay sound impossible? At first, it might seem so, but it's surprisingly easy to slash and slice when you do an edit. I've done it so I know others can, too.

One thing we writers often do is to add unnecessary words--ones like really, usually, even so, and others. There are lists of those unnecessary words. Look for them with a search engine. Many are words we often 'toss in' when we are speaking to someone. When writing, get rid of them.

Another way to cut is to look for sentences with something like this:  I came to a decision... Change it to I decided... Four words gone! That doesn't sound like very many, but take away four here, four there, and it adds up. 

Limit adjectives. Some writers use two or three for one noun. That's a lot for one little noun to bear. One works fine, and that one may make a bigger impression than if you used two or three. You could begin to sound gushy. 

Get rid of adverbs. They describe verbs and, if used, you end up telling rather than showing. Writers often use them to make passive verbs look better. I believe Stephen King also said something about the road to Hell being paved with adverbs. That's not a word for word for word quote. If you find a list of unnecessary words to cut, you'll discover that many are adverbs. 

Long, convoluted sentences can almost always be cut in some way. When a sentence is too long, it can overwhelm the reader to the point that they miss the message in the sentence. Cut as much as possible without losing the meaning. I often find it better to divide those long sentences into two separate ones It doesn't help you cut words but does help with clarity.

'He jumps over the fence that borders the park grounds.' What word can you do without in this sentence? Remove 'that' and change 'borders' to 'bordering' and 'that' is gone. Write 'The poem that I wrote won first prize.' Change it to 'The poem I wrote won first.' I cut 'that' and also 'prize' because 'that' is unnecessary to the meaning of the sentence, and saying 'first' indicates 'first prize.' Try going through a story in your files and circle all the 'that' words. Then go back and see how many of them can be cut without losing the meaning of the sentence. 

Don't introduce a sentence with phrases like:  Instead of, With the possible exception of, The reason why. Those are added words. Without them, the meaning of the sentence is still the same. Some writers use them for emphasis or to help clarify what the main part of the sentence tells us. They are not necessary in most cases.

In sentences where you begin with 'I think' 'I feel' or, 'I believe', those introductory words to the sentence are not needed. If you say 'I believe that cows are the sweetest farm animal.' and change to 'Cows are the sweetest farm animal.' nothing is lost except those two words at the beginning. 

Use active verb forms instead of ones like: Tommy was running to catch his buddies. Say: Tommy ran to his buddies. You've cut three words.

You can cut more words here and there with thought. Oops! I could have eliminated 'here and there' and maybe even 'with thought.' 

One big way to reduce your word count is to look for sections where you have repeated the same thought twice, even if using different words. Some writers do it to make sure their reader understands the point. We need to give our readers credit for being able to decipher what point we are making. Say it once, then cut the rest. You can delete whole paragraphs if one is redundant. 

You will find many ways to cut words when you edit. What seems a near-impossible job turns out to be easier than feared. The benefit comes in the form of stronger writing.