Slash and Cut for Writers

 

I've written posts about cutting words a number of times. We're often writing to a maximum amount, and it's important to adhere to the what the guidelines tell us. 

There is another kind of cutting to consider when you are editing and revising a first draft. You should look for repetition of ideas. There are times when we are trying to make a point, and we do so in a paragraph, then repeat the same idea in the next paragraph but using different words. It's easy to do that when you want to make sure your reader 'gets it' or if you're not sure where to go next so end up repeating much of what you just said. Sound crazy? It's not. Make your point once and move on.

Ask yourself if this paragraph is relevant to the story. Does it make the story move along, or is it extra fluff that is not needed? A moderator of an online writing group many years ago was famous for slashing whole parts of a story when she critiqued. "This does not move the story along" or "This does nothing to your story except add words." Needless to say, she left an impression on me. 

If you put in some backstory that has nothing to do with making the character the person he/she is today and has no meaning to what is happening in the present story, forget it. If it is something that helped make the character who he/she is, then it's fine. If you do use some backstory, make sure it does not contain useless information. Tell me that Jordy went to Marion High School and how many students it had and what it looked like, and you're veering off the track. Instead, tell what happened to Jordy in high school that helped make him who he is now.

Another place to cut is overly long descriptions. The classic example is of a character wanting to have a ham sandwich for lunch, so he/she stands up, walks to the fridge, takes out ham, lettuce, and mayo, closes the fridge, walks to the counter, gets a slice of bread, and ..... No one cares about anything other than he/she was going to make a ham sandwich. All those steps in the description do nothing but drag your story down. You can cut it all down to one short sentence. Less us more fits this situation quite well. 

We urge writers to give a sense of place in their stories. Writing four paragraphs to describe the place where the two main characters go for a picnic is overkill. Readers get so bogged down in the lengthy description of the picnic spot that they lose track of why the characters are there or what happens next. Keep your sense of place writing to a very few sentences. You can sprinkle them in here and there, not necessarily in one entire paragraph, although that can be done, as well. But keep it to a minimum. 

When describing a character, you needn't do it all in one long paragraph. A little here, a little there gives the reader an overall picture. 

The above can be summed up to not overdo any part of your story. Pare it to the bone, and you will end up with a stronger piece of writing. 

Writers Must Learn to Cut Words

 

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)