This is a post from a couple years ago. The topic is one that we should revisit over and over again. Cutting words is a chore and often a necessity. In the end you will have a better piece of writing. In January of 2019, I said:
Let's play What if...? What if you have a wonderful personal essay of around 1600 words. When you begin looking for a place to send it, you find that what you've written would be a perfect fit for a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. You are sure your essay will be a winner. You can almost see an image in your mind of what you've written in print in the book. But then you check the guidelines and note that the maximum number of words the editors will accept is 1200.
Your heart falls right down to the soles of your feet. 1600 vs 1200! That means cutting 400 words. Not possible you think. You call a friend who has been published in that anthology several times. "How serious are they about word count?" you ask. You sink into a chair when your friend responds, "Very serious. I mean--they aren't kidding."
What if you try to cut the extra 400 words? It would mean you can submit the essay feeling confident because you followed the guidelines. It might also mean a lot of work. What if you lose something big in the story by cutting 400 words? What if you don't want to tackle the job? Not an option? Then, it's time to get to work.
Go through the text and highlight places where you have used more than one adjective to describe a noun. Choose one and toss the other. Now, check for adverbs. Do you really need to say '...he said angrily?' Drop the adverbs wherever possible.
Go back to the beginning and look for overly long sentences. Ask yourself how you can condense what you've said into a shorter sentence. Sometimes reversing the order of a sentence will allow you to cut some of the words.
There are many unnecessary words that we unconsciously use when we write. Words like really, very, just, rather, certainly don't add to what you're saying. They only add fluff. The sentence is usually stronger without them.
You can hyphenate some words and also use contractions instead of two words. Say I'd instead of I would. Try he'll instead of he will.
You can turn some nouns into verbs. Say I decided instead of I came to the decision. In this example, you have used two words instead of five. Do that in many places and you can cut a lot of words.
Watch for redundancy. We can make a point, then tend to repeat the same point in other words in the next paragraph. Cut one of the sentences. It might even be a paragraph. It's a common mistake--repeating the same idea in different words. As writers, we don't always give our readers enough credit for 'getting it' the first time we make the point.
Next, go through the text again and ask yourself if there are sections that can be taken out that wouldn't affect the story itself. More often than not, you can find whole paragraphs that are not crucial. You might like them, but when cutting, be ruthless.
Stephen King's advice for cutting words is worth reading and heeding. He said: “Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler's heart, kill your darlings.”
What if you follow all this advice for cutting 400 words from your personal essay? It just might allow you to cut those 400 words. I know because I've done it.
January 17, 2019 (original post date)
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