Writing
8 Ways to Trim Word Count
Tricks to make writing more concise
So you’ve reached out to get feedback on your manuscript, only to find out you’re outside your genre’s word count rage.
What does that even mean? Is 527 pages too long for mainstream fiction? (Pretty much.)
If you’re seeking traditional publishing, agents and publishers are looking for manuscripts that fall within a certain range. And they count words, not pages.
Prefer to go indie? Not so fast — those ranges exist because those are reader expectations for genres. And expectations equal sales.
A fantasy reader expecting to get comfortable and live within a fictional world of more than 100,000 words would feel betrayed if the story stopped at only 50,000. They’d be left wondering, “Where’s the rest of the story?”
Likewise, a thriller at 125,000 might be feel like the plot drags.
Of course there are plenty of examples of authors ignoring these guidelines, but they are likely not debut authors. Put plainly, they either know what they’re doing or they can get away with it because they’re so successful readers will buy their books no matter what.
To make it in today’s marketplace, it’s important place your manuscript in as best a position within the genre as possible.
So back to that feedback. If a manuscript is too short, that’s a plotting issue — create more scenes and expand what you have. But if it’s too long, don’t worry. It’s all fixable.
Let’s start with the obvious.
Cut a scene
If the word count is drastically off, it’s time to examine the purpose of each scene. Is it moving the plot forward in a definite way? If not, can whatever elements this scene provides be added to another and the rest cut? Or can it be cut altogether?
This one hurts, but if the goal is publication it’s a necessary step.
All is not lost, though. Don’t delete that scene. Remove it and save it somewhere else. That writing can either inspire future work, or maybe it will make for a fun deleted scene teaser for fans once the book is published.
And what if the scene is scrapped but the manuscript is still a bit too long? Or what if you’ve been told the work is too wordy overall?
Below are smaller fixes that add up to a much tighter, much cleaner manuscript.
Delete filler words
It’s the old go-to for a reason: cut filler words and your writing instantly becomes more concise.
There are many sites devoted to clever filler words to eliminate, but here are some I recommend to clients: very, really, just, that, rather, actually, surely, pretty, and quite.
Check point of view
Point of view (POV) is how the character experiences their world. The reader should not observe/smell/feel anything that is not right in front of the character and directly observable.
One of the most common issues when authors put themselves into a character’s POV is to still externalize it, telling the reader that the character is observing something.
Don’t tell us what she saw, simply describe it. Remove every intance of “she saw” or “she felt”.
Instead of “She saw the tsunami wave coming toward them” write “The tsunami wave raced toward them.”
Each time the character observes something, two words can be removed. And that adds up.
Stop the explanations
Any time it is tempting to delve into an explanation of something, either what it looks like or how it works, determine if the explanation is necessary. Does the reader need to know every detail? Most likely the reader can be trusted with a few key details and they’ll fill in the rest.
This is especially hard for writers of historical ficiton. All that research is going to come out because the author is passionate about the subject. But unless knowing the intricacies of how wool spinning works is directly relevant to the plot, let the reader see the spindle and they will imagine the rest.
Cut description in half
Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but not by much. Description and exposition can bog down the pace of a novel, when a lot of times a few key details can do the work of hefty paragraphs.
If you rely on paragraphs of setting detail to build your fictional world, pull those paragaphs into a separate document. What one or two sentences are the most important? What must a reader have to understand the setting right away, without which they would be confused? Put those lines back in.
For the rest, examine whether each line is adding something different, adding to either the tone or important setting details. If so, sprinkles those in throughout the first pages so the paragraph of description is now broken up.
And if the details all build on each other, but don’t add anything to the plot or story, pull them out and keep them in that special file for writing that’s not usable at this time. Every sentence must pull its weight.
Minimize name-calling
Ever read a passage where the characters keep calling each other by their name?
“Hey, Bob.”
“Hey, Ameet.”
“Bob, what did you do about that nosy neighbor?”
“Well, Ameet, I…”
It’s annoying, and weird. People don’t talk like this. If you’re in a conversation with one other person, how often do you say their name?
A writer may not even be aware they are doing this, which is why it’s good to have feedback to catch it. You can catch it yourself, though, with a quick search for character names.
In some rare cases those names are necessary, like when a group is talking and one person needs to clearly address another. Or, if there’s some sort of context to one character calling another by a nickname.
Otherwise — delete.
Search and destroy adverbs
We hear it so often, but this advice rings true. Not all adverbs are bad, but most are only weighing down your writing.
Why should your character run quickly when he can sprint?
Each time an adverb is removed and a stronger verb chosen, the writing gets a two-for-one improvement: one deleted word, and tighter writing.
Use fewer dialogue tags
In a conversation between two characters, it will be obvious to the reader who is speaking as they bounce back and forth down the page. Especially if each character has a different voice and vocabulary. There’s no need for a “she said”, a “he declared”, or a “she reiterated”.
Sticking to “said” is a good rule of thumb, but often you don’t even need that.
Make action beats your friend. An action beat is when the other character folds their arms as they reply. By that action, the reader knows inherently that the focus is on that character and therefore that character is speaking.
Likewise, internal dialogue and reactions from the protagonist remind the reader when the main character is speaking.
So see if any of those reactions within conversations can be harnessed for double-duty to eliminate instances of “said”.
Facing a major editing pass to cut words can be a big task, but it’s not impossible. With a diligent trimming, not only will your work be within the expected range (a nice 300 pages for mainstream instead of 500+), but your writing overall will be much sharper, tighter, and resonant.
Curious about word count ranges? Search for your genre for specifics, but generally anything under 50,000 is underdeveloped, and over 100,000 might be a bit long (unless you’re sci-fi or fantasy, you get more wiggle room). Find where your manuscript should fall and keep trimming until you reach it.
Have any of these tips worked for you? Or do you have other tricks that help you sneak into your genre word count range?
