If you’re like me, sometimes the pen runs away with you. You blink and suddenly you’re a thousand words over the word count limit for the project. And you still have more to say! Words come easily to you, but sometimes that means they wander into the bushes, run the extra mile, or loop in circles. Maybe you groan and switch to a red pen, painstakingly going word by word to see how much you can trim.
There has to be a better way.
Big Picture First
Many over-writers don’t realize that going word by word is often a waste of time, especially if the number of words they have to cut is in the thousands. They might reach the end and realize they still have more to go, so they start cutting sentences. In a moment, all the time they spent on that one sentence becomes pointless. Then they cut a paragraph and the wasted time multiplies.
Why meticulously cut on the word level when you could instead cut the whole sentence? The paragraph? The section? Maybe you do have too many adjectives, but don’t start there.
Wandering into the Bushes
Side tangents might be funny and interesting to you, but if they aren’t related to your topic, they likely have to go. Try making a list of topics you want to cover. Compare each part of the paper to the list to determine if it is worth keeping.
Running the Extra Mile
You may be proud of how thoroughly you prove your point with four examples, but you probably need only one or two. Try asking colleagues to identify at what point they were convinced so you can cut unnecessary evidence.
Looping in Circles
Maybe you restate your point throughout your paper to stay on topic. While this can help, each restatement should build on what has been said already. Keep notes of what you’ve said, and make sure each sentence adds something new. You might have to cut some repeated ideas so you can emphasize new details and keep your writing moving forward.
Another trick is to write down the main point of each paragraph. You might find that two paragraphs are about the same thing. In that case, you can pick your favorite and send the other packing or carefully combine them for the best phrasing.
Small Details Later
When you start with the big picture, you may be surprised by how quickly your word count drops. With just a change in mindset, you can save precious time and energy.
Once that’s done, you can try editing at the sentence level—and this time it will be worth it. Look for nominalizations, empty introductory phrases, and hedging. After that, you could search word by word for filler phrases or adverbs that could be cut in favor of stronger verbs. I could say more, but that would go beyond the subject of this post . . . I’ll stop now before I wander into the bushes myself!