10 Tips to Slash Your Manuscript’s Word Count

In today’s publishing world, a high word count can be a death sentence for a debut novel. But before you go killing your darlings and trashing entire scenes, try these ten simple tips for reducing wordiness, tightening your prose, and slashing your word count.

Ten Simple Ways to Tighten Your Writing and Reduce Wordiness

Tip #1: Don’t “Begin” Just Do

There are two good reasons to cut most, if not all, instances of “Begin” in your work. First, it adds an extra word to sentences that is not usually necessary. Second, it creates an unnecessary layer between your reader and the action.

Check out the example below. The revised version has fewer words and feels more active.

• She begins sorting the groceries. ➡️ She sorts the groceries.

Tip #2: Is That “That” Necessary?

“That” is another word that often can be cut, but not always (see this sentence for an example of when “that” is necessary). When used extraneously, “that” often indicates a sentence that is overwritten, especially if there is more than one “that.” In these cases, you’ll usually find you can cut more than just the “thats.”

Example of simple “over-thated” sentence:

• She said that she would meet us at noon.

Example of an overwritten “that” sentence:

• The report that he submitted yesterday is the one that is going to be reviewed first. ➡️ The report he submitted yesterday will be reviewed first.

Tip #3: Passive to Active

There is a place for passive voice in fiction, despite what most auto grammar checkers claim. But when passive voice isn’t necessary for the tone or meaning of a sentence, changing it to active can not only lower your word count but can improve flow.

• Passive: The decision was made by the committee after much deliberation.
• Active: The committee decided after much deliberation.

Tip #4: Drop Dialogue Tags

Dialogue tags are only necessary when there might be a question about who is speaking. 

With conversations between two people, you can usually drop dialogue tags after the pattern of who’s speaking has been established. You only need to reinsert the tags after a break in conversation or when the pattern is otherwise disrupted.

If more than two people are talking, dropping tags without causing confusion is more difficult. One trick you can use is to utilize action beats to explain who is speaking in place of dialogue tags. The key to reducing word count here is to use one or the other, not both.

Example:

“I would never do that,” Ben said.

I kicked a rock, feigning indifference. “Would you do it for me?” I asked.

Tip #5: Lookout for Participle Verbs

One tipoff that a sentence might be overwritten is the use of participle verbs, i.e. verbs that end in “-ing.” These are necessary when the sentence includes a participle phrase but can typically be slashed in straightforward sentences.

(When writing in past tense, overwriting with participle verbs typically creates passive sentences. See tip #3.)

Example of overwriting with present participle verbs:

• You can usually get away with dropping your bags after 5pm. ➡️ You can usually drop your bags after 5pm.

Tip #6: Get Stingy with Your Descriptors

Adjectives and adverbs get a bad rap. But the truth is, good writing will contain both of these. The trick is to ensure the adjectives and adverbs that survive to the final draft are worth keeping around. If you get very stingy with these words, not only will your writing sound better, but it will be less wordy.

Adjectives:

• We had to bend our necks as we stepped through the short doorway. (The action of bending the neck tells the reader the doorway is short.)
• The cloudless blue sky smiled down at me. (When you have two adjectives, pick the stronger one.)
• A big truck rumbled past. (Words like big, small, tall, etc. are overused and don’t paint a vivid picture. Cut or replace with a more descriptive adjective.)

Adverbs:

• I ran slowly. ➡️ I jogged. (Cut the adverb and use a more descriptive verb.)
• I wrote carefully, mimicking every curve of her letters. (The action following the verb makes the adverb unnecessary.)

Tip #7: Cut Filter Words

Filter words not only drive up your word count, but they distance your reader from the story. In most cases, cutting filter words like feel, see, hear, smell, etc. will only make your writing stronger.

Examples:

• I feel a tingle run down my spine. ➡️ A tingle runs down my spine.
• I watch him dance and feel myself smile. ➡️ He dances as I smile.
• He hears a siren blaring down the street. ➡️ A siren blares down the street.

Tip #8: Combine Sentences

If it’s possible to combine two sentences and cut words out, do it. This can usually be done by creating participle phrases or by adding a conjunction and cutting unnecessary repetition.

Examples:

• She picked up the pen. She held it tightly in her hand. ➡️ She picked up the pen, gripping it tightly.
• He was nervous. He could barely get the envelope open. ➡️ His hands trembled as he opened the envelope.

Tip #9: Don’t Overuse Participle Phrases

I am a big fan of participle phrases. They can provide extra insight into a character’s actions and reduce word count, in some cases. But they can also be overused, leading to extra wordiness and a dragging pace. (See what I did there??)

Examples:

• He shouted loudly, his voice echoing in the empty hallway. ➡️ His voice echoed in the empty hallway.

Tip #10: Cut Crutch Words

Just. Suddenly. Only. These are crutch words that help prop up sentences and they are often unnecessary in fiction writing. The trick here is to read the sentence (and the surrounding paragraph) without the crutch word and see if the meaning changes. If not, cut the word.

Examples:

• The light snapped on and she screamed. Suddenly, he was in front of her.
• Where the triggerman just stood, now exists only wispy smoke.
• It only takes three swift kicks to the warped door to get it open. 

It Adds Up

It may seem futile to cut your word count down by one or two words at a time, but it adds up fast.

Consider this: If you cut an average of 15 words per page of your manuscript, you can reduce the word count of a 110,000-word novel by about 5,000 words.

Combine this cutting with ruthless content editing (cutting unnecessary scenes, dialogue, etc.) and you can easily hit your word count goal. Of course, if you’re struggling with this process, I’m happy to help! My copy editing and line editing services help reduce wordiness while improving your prose.