When I began writing devotionals for a publication, the editor said write as many words as you need to… then edit. If you’ve heard the saying “less is more,” it’s true of almost any writing project. But writers usually need more words initially.
For example, in writing devotionals, the final product for a day was 240 words for each of the seven days of the assignment. Plenty of writing, then whittling of words.
How do you know when you have too many words? Is it beyond the editor’s request? A novel requires many more words than a shorter inspirational article. Ask a novelist how much they cut from the initial draft of a work.
Next time you’re trying to cut your word count, consider these points:
- Use active voice as much as possible, rather than passive. Example: “Nancy was driven to her class by her mother” (passive) transforms to “Nancy’s mother drove her to class” (active).
- Find the right nouns and verbs. Be specific. That alone can cut adverbs and adjectives. Example: “The pretty pink perennials bent their heads to the sun” or “Pink echinacea tilted their heads to the sun.”
- Look for repetition, where you’ve said the same thing twice. Find the sentence or phrase that says it best. Keep that one and delete what is not working. This may be especially effective in essays and nonfiction pieces.
- Does all the information you’ve shared need to be there? Go back to the purpose of your writing. Example: “Glen planted the black-eyed Susan in his flowerbed — another one of those echinacea varieties — that reminded him of his sister Susan” or “Glen planted the black-eyed Susan in his flowerbed, another reminder of his sister Susan.” Depending on the story, or its purpose, you may not need the phrase “another one of those echinacea varieties” especially if the writer is focusing on missing his sister.
- Eliminate unnecessary prepositional phrases. Sometimes the idea could be expressed more simply. Example: “Jackie steered his bike around the curve and onto the path through the woods” or “Jackie steered his bike along the curved path that went through the woods.”
It becomes a game trying to share the message with fewer words. Try it on a short piece or your novel in progress. Use it in your poetry writing, where fewer words shine. Trust readers’ intelligence, too, in understanding your meaning.