CUTTING YOUR WORD COUNT DOWN TO SIZE

Hello Students!

I hope you are enjoying the weekend. I have been working on an upcoming deadline, and I've been cutting my article down (waaay down) to size! As I went along, I wrote down some tips that I hope will be helpful!

When you're looking at a paper that is heavy on the word count, start by asking yourself these questions:

• What have I said twice? Once is enough!
• Is each paragraph focused? Is there anything that I can cut out because it doesn't belong?
• Am I sticking to my outline? I really believe in outlines, and this is one area where they come in handy! A good outline keeps your writing tight and focused!
• Check all the times you use "that." Ask yourself if it is necessary. Does it sound okay without it? If so, delete!
• Get rid of the word "very." Either drop it altogether or find one word to accomplish the meaning you are looking for. Example: "Very good" becomes "excellent." "Very smart" becomes "genius."
• Set it to the side. When you work on your paper over several days, you have plenty of time for the editing process. It is amazing how much fresher you are when you come back to a paper that you have set aside. It works!
• Watch your verbs. Be sure that you are keeping everything in the proper tense. Sometimes, you can eliminate a helping verb.
• Pray over it. I actually write out my prayer at the beginning of my first draft. I then use that prayer as a point of reference to determine if every single word is maintaining the focus of the paper.

If you end up doing a lot of editing, have someone who is unfamiliar with your paper to read through it. If that person has several questions, you'll know that in all of your cutting, you may have eliminated some essential information.