Writing advice - Tips to tighten your prose!

6. Adopt a word-cutting mindset

In this chapter, we're talking about how to shift your mindset from adding words to removing words.

Want to see how powerful a shift in mindset can be? Watch this:

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LET ME KNOW IF THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR...

You're reading a chapter you wrote and it's *blah.* Nothing happens on the first page, the dialogue drags, and your characters are simply going through the motions of the climactic sword fight. You sit down to spruce it up. You introduce some character backstory, add a funny joke in the middle of a conversation, and have your character drop their sword during the fight to add more excitement.

Suddenly, your chapter went from 4,500 words to 5,000 words. The problem: all of the boring stuff is still there, albeit mixed in with the new exciting bits.

To fix a chapter, our first instinct is to add more words. The chapter needs more humor. More excitement. More intrigue. But this is the wrong framing: oftentimes, what the chapter needs just as much is less.

Shift your mindset!

To us, "writing" usually means putting words on a page, not taking them away! When we're writing, we're in an additive mindset.

Sometimes, even recognizing "this chapter is too long" isn't enough. I often stand up after editing and realize that I've removed fifty words and added two hundred! An "editing" mindset is often still an "additive" mindset. I can always think of new, better things to add to my chapter!

It doesn't help that removing words is harder than adding them. You worked hard for each and every one of those words, dang it! Seeing your manuscript shrink doesn't feel as good as seeing it grow. What you need is to get out of your additive mindset and into a subtractive mindset. An easy way to do that is this:

Set a goal to cut a certain number of words!

It's really that simple. Forcing yourself to cut a certain number of words will put on your editor goggles. Editor goggles are magical. They put you into a new frame of reference. Suddenly, instances of repetition and unnecssary description will jump off the page. When you're trying to meet a word cut quota, it becomes much easier to part with a dull paragraph or trim the saggy middle of a long conversation.

After I finish a chapter, I take a few days off, then come back and make myself cut 10% of the words. If I have a chapter with 1200 words, I'll set a goal to cut 120. If I have a chapter with 3000 words, I'll set a goal to cut 300.

My first thought is always: "10% seems like a lot! What if I absolutely can't find enough words to cut?"

Spoiler alert: that has not happened yet. :)

Question:

Open a chapter that feels *blah* and set a goal to cut 10% of the words in the chapter. How did you do? What did you end up cutting? Did you notice things about your chapter you didn't notice before?

I know cutting this many words can be hard! Just keep reminding yourself: if you cut the dull parts of your chapter, your reader gets to spend more time with the parts that you're really proud of! :)