3 Tips for Cutting Your Word Count (Without Giving Your Whole Story the Ax)

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Today’s post is by author Leslie Vedder (@leslievedder).


When it comes to writing and word count, you’re always up against the Goldilocks principle: you don’t want too much or too little—you’ve got to get it just right.

Personally, I am always on the side of too much. Especially by the time I’ve gotten through my edits, I’ve usually inched up to a word count that’s waaaay over my target goal. So when those alarm bells start going off and you find yourself staring at a book you need to cut 10,000+ words from, where do you begin?

Is it time to start chopping entire scenes and subplots?

Does some side character or love story get the ax?

Maybe not. Try these things first.

1. Look at your transitions.

Transitions are those little connector pieces that help you pass time and distance or move between scenes quickly. You know: Three weeks passed in a flash… Two hours later… As the days grew colder and the leaves began to change… Sometimes it’s just white space on the page before a new scene picks up in a new place. Transitions can be practically invisible, because when they’re done well, you often don’t notice them.

And that’s what makes them a great place to start cutting word count. In a fantasy book, for example, how much of your character traveling to a new kingdom do you really need to portray? If nothing important happens, could you use skip right to the destination?

Do you find yourself filling in a lot of details about the days before an important event? (Think of the multiple scenes of Cinderella sewing her stepsisters’ dresses and doing chores in the run-up to the ball.)

Do you get into the minutiae of your characters opening doors and then entering rooms and then looking around—only then getting into a new scene? This one is my personal Achilles heel. Consider:

Cinderella reached for the door, pushing it open slowly. The ornate wood creaked on its rusted hinges. She stood in the opening, peering around at the royal gardens…

Or: Cinderella slipped into the royal gardens, marveling at the lush greenery as

The first example has more rich detail, sure—but is it detail your reader needs or wants? Often, you’re better off saving those words for a more exciting moment: like Cinderella stumbling on her stepsisters trying to assassinate the king. (It could happen!)

Cutting transition words not only makes your writing tighter, but helps manage your pacing. Best of all, it’s usually material you won’t miss.

2. Cut down on description.

Description in books is vital—it deepens the world building and adds flavor and tone. It’s also easy to go overboard. As the author, you may have a picture in your head of exactly what your castle looks like, down to the last turret, balcony garden, and flying buttress. No matter how fantastically you paint that picture, though, consider cutting long descriptions and trading that for lines that evoke a feeling.

For example, when describing the ancient manor house where your gothic romance is set, you will absolutely want to detail the architecture, the overgrown ivy, and the twisted shapes of the gargoyles. But at some point, instead of counting off every peaked roof and creaky weathervane, your word count may be better served by subbing in a feeling line: The longer she stared up at the towering manor, the more it felt like it was looking back at her, the black windows shining like malevolent eyes.

Look carefully at any scene where you’re describing something for the second time: a second look at your haunted mansion, repeated trips to the castle library, etc. Trust your reader to remember your first glorious description—and use this to motivate yourself to make that original description absolutely sparkle.

3. Remove one word from every sentence or paragraph.

I wish I could remember where I heard this advice—I think it was at a writing conference. Regardless, I use this one all the time!

Cutting thousands of words from a manuscript is daunting, however you slice it. But think for a moment about removing a single word out of every sentence in your book. An 80,000-word book could easily have upward of 7,000 sentences, and some sentences have extra fluff in them, like “a little” or “very.” Obviously, some lines of dialogue or short action sentences might be as short as they can ever get. But even if you can only cut a word from every other line, or every paragraph, it’ll add up in a hurry.

Plus, there’s an added benefit: it really streamlines your writing. Like pruning extra leaves or branches, sharper and tighter prose makes the details you keep stand out. And any time you cut word count, you make your book a faster read.

Obviously, these tips won’t work for every project. Each book has its own voice and style, and as the author, you know it best. If you write in a very concise manner, cutting one word from each sentence could be devastating. Or if you’ve worked hard to include exactly the description that you need with no overflow, cutting it down would be a nonstarter.

Still, take a hard look at your transitions, long descriptions, and overstuffed sentences, because whenever you can cut truly unnecessary material, you get to keep something you really care about!

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[…] 3 Tips for Cutting Your Word Count (Without Giving Your Whole Story the Ax) — Jane Friedman […]

Mark Marderosian

GREAT article! I realized early on that it also helps pacing. It’s better not to “wax poetically” on every moment. I save my lush descriptions and detail for the emotional and dramatic moments. Their first kiss? Great. Walking down a street? I figure everyone knows what materials are used to make a sidewalk. If everything is a cresendo, it becomes exhausting to read. Thanks for inspiring me to do another pass.

Jana Van der Veer

This is great advice – there are so many of those little words that can easily be cut, such as just, that, all the vague “some” words (something, someone); and often heard/saw/felt as well. Say it directly and your sentences will be much stronger! I cut 7K from my latest ms just from this kind of ruthless editing.

Jan Hogle

I especially like the technique of cutting one word from every sentence! I’m going to try that one. Thanks for this post; it’s a topic I need badly!

Elaine Burnes

Great ideas! I keep a list of words I overuse, like “just,” “So” (to begin a sentence), “that,” etc. I methodically search and destroy as many as possible.

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[…] the drafting comes the editing. Leslie Vedder reveals 3 tips for cutting your word count without giving your whole story the ax, Terry Odell deals with mixed up words, and Laura Drake shares her editing pet […]

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[…] Leslie Fedder: 3 Tips for Cutting Your Word Count (Without Giving Your Whole Story the Ax) […]

Gretchen Cherington

I used the one word per sentence approach recently in getting below the required word count for an essay. A forced choice exercise that sharpened the writing! When cutting my book MS in a stage just before publication I found one sentence per graph and either eliminated it or strengthened it to prove its worthiness. Thanks for the great reminder. Great tool!

Emily Miceli

I like this! I will apply these simple tips to my behemoth family saga that I finished 5 years ago and experience waves of anxiety whenever I think of giving it another trim. Thank you, Leslie!

Last edited 3 years ago by Emily Miceli
Rosi Hollinbeck

These are terrific ideas. I especially like the last one. I need to do that. Thanks for the post. I will be posting the link on my blog.