Cutting and Tightening Your Writing
1 min read
Less Is More
The 10% Rule
After finishing your draft, try to cut 10% of the word count. Almost every piece of writing can be tightened without losing meaning.
What to Cut
- Redundancies: "Past history" → "history." "Free gift" → "gift."
- Filler words: Very, really, quite, just, actually, basically, literally
- Wordy phrases: "In order to" → "to." "Due to the fact that" → "because."
- Throat-clearing: "It is important to note that..." (just state the point)
- Unnecessary hedging: "It seems that perhaps..." (commit to your claims)
Tightening Techniques
- Convert passive to active voice
- Replace phrases with single words
- Eliminate "there is/are" constructions
- Use strong verbs instead of weak verb + adverb