How to Shorten Any Piece of Writing by Half

Most first drafts have far more room to cut than writers expect.

1. Cut any sentence that restates a point already made elsewhere in the piece.
2. Remove qualifying phrases ("I think," "it seems that," "in some ways") that soften without adding value.
3. Combine sentences that share the same subject rather than starting a new sentence each time.
4. Read each paragraph and ask: does the piece lose meaning if this is deleted entirely? If not, cut it.

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