Here's how to reduce your word count manually:


PJ, you read my blog? I’m stunned! I didn’t think anyone was reading it!
I’d better hurry up and do a blog post then. Actually (OK, cross out that word Actually) I was thinking of posting Rachelle’s latest guest post–how lazy is that!


It’s true that if you use just one of these tips in one sentence of your report or blog post, you won’t see much of a difference. However, if you use even just a few of these strategies across an entire document or piece of writing, the savings will add up. We promise. You’ll be surprised by just how much shorter and tighter you can make your sentences by giving these tips a try.
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Looking for more tips on how to reduce word counts and write concisely? Check out our post on the .
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You may be looking at these tips and noticing that they don’t reduce word counts or character counts by a huge amount. So why bother using them?

This free online instrument will reduce word count in seconds.

“The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) oversees the health care system in Ontario, Canada. One of MOHLTC’s key goals is to build a sustainable and patient-centered public health system.” (31 words; 167 characters)

Boy, this is a timely post. Just cut 10,000 words from my manuscript over the last couple months using a lot of the suggestions you mention. I also cut scenes that, though they were lots of fun to write, really don’t support the story enough to justify the word count. It was difficult, but the story is definitey tighter, and the smaller word count gives me a wider potential for representation. Thanks for the additional suggestions. I think I’ll try the “search” function and see what extras I have left.

“The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) oversees the health care system in Ontario, Canada. One of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s key goals is to build a sustainable and patient-centered public health system.” (37 words; 196 characters)

“The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) oversees the health care system in Ontario, Canada. One of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s key goals is to build a sustainable and patient-centered public health system.” (37 words; 196 characters)


“Every word you cut gives its power to the words that remain.”

I recently cut 15k. A few scenes had to go, but I also found that a lot of prepositions were unnecessary. I’d thought I was writing in close POV, but when I looked for words to cut, I was surprised how many, “she thoughts” or “he noticed” I had. The ms was much stronger without those anyway.

My secret for reducing word count: Be honest.

Sometimes you can make paragraphs shorter by combining related sentences. Just make sure that your combined sentences don’t become too long or difficult to follow. Otherwise you’ll be back at square one when it comes to trimming your sentences.
Here’s how you can use this tip to reduce word counts and write concisely:

10 Tricks to Reduce Your Word Count in Academic Writing

The problem with passive voice, though, is that it makes sentences longer and less powerful. Do you want your website copy, one-pager, or report to have a strong impact on your readers? If you do, reduce word counts and write more concisely by rewriting passive voice sentences in active voice.
Here’s how you can use this tip to reduce word counts and write concisely:

11 tips for removing unnecessary words in writing · 1

The conjunction doesn’t take up that much space in a sentence. But if you’re pressed for space, replacing the conjunction and the comma before it with a period or a semicolon can help you reduce word counts.
Here’s how you can use this tip to reduce word counts and write concisely:

Remove These 30 Words and Phrases from Your Writing Now

In some cases, you can use the “-ing” form of a verb to remove a preposition. You’ll just need to play around with the word order in the sentence. Here’s how this could look:

Reduce your word count with this one quick trick

In many cases, you can get rid of a preposition by rewriting the sentence.
Here’s how you can use this tip to reduce word counts and write concisely: