How to reduce your word count

So you’ve written your essay or personal statement, and you’re way over your designated word count. What do you do?

Figuring out how to cut down your work count can be essential for meeting your assignment limits, improving the readability of your work, and tightening your prose.

Here’s how to go about reducing your word count without compromising on meaning or clarity.

Eliminate redundant phrases

Look for phrases where the meaning is repeated, and simplify them. Common examples include:

  • “In order to” → “To”

  • “Due to the fact that” → “Because”

  • “At this point in time" → “Now” or “Currently”

  • “Each and every” → “Each” or “Every”

Delete unnecessary words

Many words don’t add value and can be removed without changing the meaning:

  • “Really,” “very,” “just,” “quite,” and “that" are often fillers.

  • Adverbs are often unnecessary. Instead of “He quickly ran to the door,” try “He ran to the door.”

Use short, direct phrases

Find simpler ways to say things. Replace multi-word expressions with shorter synonyms:

  • “A large number of” → “Many” or “Numerous”

  • “Despite the fact that” → “Although” or “While”

  • “Has the ability to” → “Can"

Avoid overly detailed descriptions

Details can be essential, but too much can clutter your writing. For example:

  • Instead of “The car, which was a dark blue with chrome finishes and black-tinted windows,” consider “The dark blue car.”

Choose stronger words

Replace weak or vague phrases with single, powerful words to cut the word count and boost clarity.

  • ”Made a change” → “Transformed”

  • “Showed a lot of” → “Exemplified”

An adverb-verb combination can often be replaced by a stronger, more precise verb:

  • “He quickly ran to the door.” → “He dashed to the door.”

  • “She smiled happily.“ → “She beamed.“

Combine sentences

When two sentences convey similar ideas, consider merging them:

  • “The study focuses on environmental factors. These factors play a key role in public health.“

  • Combine to: “The study focuses on key environmental factors in public health.“

Use active voice

The passive voice tends to be wordier. Switch to the active voice where possible:

  • “The experiment was conducted by the team.“ → “The team conducted the experiment.“

Reduce examples

If you’ve used multiple examples, consider using only the strongest one.

Edit long quotations

Use only the parts of a quotation that are directly relevant to your point. If a long quote is not essential, try paraphrasing the key point.

Remove unnecessary modifiers

Adjectives and adverbs can sometimes be removed:

  • “Completely finished“ → “Finished“

  • “Totally unnecessary“ → “Unnecessary“

  • “Her position is quite clear.“ → “Her position is clear.“

  • “The results were somewhat disappointing“ → “The results were disappointing.“

Use contractions

If your tone allows, use contractions to save space:

  • “Do not“ becomes “Don’t“

  • “It is“ becomes “It’s“

Conclusion

Trimming unnecessary words and tightening your language not only helps you stay within word limits but also enhances the clarity and impact of your writing.

Need help reducing your word count? Our editors can lower your word count by as much as 10% as part of a normal line edit. If you need more substantial cuts than this, please contact us for a quote; we also offer developmental editing for more substantial word count reductions.

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