Recently I got rejected by an agent… For my word count. She told me the writing and idea itself were not the problem but instead, it was my word count. How would I go about eliminating words? What do y'all suggest? I really don't want the word count itself to be the thing standing in my way… :/
I would say that making things smaller is definitely something I've struggled with before. I tend to over-detail things that I write, so I often eliminate entire sentences. For instance:
Before : The grass shone, dewdrops reflecting the sun's light off of themselves. A male of about twenty laid atop of the green stuff, gazing at the sun above him. "It's so beautiful," He whispered, almost silently. Wind blowed then, through every blade, as if to thank him.
After : The grass shone, the sun perfectly hitting the dew atop of it. A male rested upon the green stuff, gazing at the sun above. "It's so beautiful," He whispered, silently. Wind gusted through every blade, as if to thank him.
Notice how the two paragraphs seem to mean practically the same thing, but how one seems a few words shorter than the other? I do! I hope this helps!
I'm actually the same way, now that I think about it. Thank you for pointing that out and yes, it absolutely helps!
:) Glad I'm able to assist!
Try doing a find and replace for contractions, Yes they aren't well used everywhere, but it could help.
I've done that for a few chapters already and it's helping. Thank you :)
You're welcome!
Definitely try to eliminate any unnecessary prepositional phrases.
Example, the one that my friend Sorrel used.
The grass shone, the sun perfectly hitting the dew atop of it. A male rested upon the green stuff, gazing at the sun above. "It's so beautiful," He whispered, silently. Wind gusted through every blade, as if to thank him.
And this edited down one lost a lot of detail, which you never ever want to lose in a story. So my edited thing would probably end up being:
“The grass shone, the sun hitting each green, waving stalk. A male rested, gazing at the sun and its luxurious glory.
“It’s so beautiful,” He whispered, almost completely silent.”
(Even though it appears longer, it is probably similar in word count, but much more enriching and grammatically correct with commas and how the prepositions in the phrase. Definitely revisit adjectives and prepositions in your story if you want to cut down on word counts.)
(If you need synonyms for stuff I'm usually pretty good with those)
Yeah, I think one of my biggest issues is over-describing instead of finding an adjective that draws everything I'm trying to say together.
Well if you wanna shoot me random sentences I can help look for shorter ways to say it.
I definitely will take you up on that offer XD
Feel free to PM me about it if you want!
Just note that I'm in the middle of exam season so things might be a bit delayed for time.
look at tips for padding essays or written homework like
and make sure you don't use these them, or at least pare down on them
I notice those when writing essays and such, but I haven't when writing my novel. Thanks for pointing those out!
Hey y'all! Just thought I'd check in and tell you: I've finished editing! Finally! After mentally dying several times! Before edited word count: 215K (a lot, I know) After editing: 118K (almost 100K words gone!!!) All of your tips/tricks/advice really helped me realize the core plot of my story and what I was trying to present to readers. Thanks y'all!