Every writer eventually meets a hard word limit and a draft that is twenty per cent too long. The instinct is to delete the weakest paragraph and hope. That works, sometimes, but it is the crudest possible tool, and it tends to remove content while leaving the style just as inflated as before.
A better method works in layers, from the smallest unit up. Cut the words first, then the phrases, then the sentences, then the sections. Most drafts lose fifteen per cent before a single section has to go, and the argument often gets clearer in the process.
Layer one: words
At the smallest scale, English is full of words that signal a relationship without adding information.
Nominalisations. "The implementation of the policy" becomes "implementing the policy." "The utilisation of resources" becomes "using resources." Every nominalisation turns a verb into a noun and usually drags a preposition and an article along with it. The wordiness guide covers this in depth.
Redundancy. "Past history," "future plans," "advance warning," "completely finished," "end result." One word in each pair is doing nothing.
Hedges that weaken rather than qualify. "It is important to note that," "it should be mentioned that," "it is worth considering whether." These phrases announce that a point is coming instead of making it. Cut the announcement and keep the point.
Empty intensifiers. "Very," "really," "quite," "rather," "somewhat," "fairly." Each one weakens the word it modifies. "Very large" is less large than "large," because the reader now knows you needed help.
There is / there are. "There are three reasons why the plan failed" becomes "The plan failed for three reasons." The sentence gets shorter and the subject gets stronger.
Run a pass with the word counter open and the filler word checker in another tab. A typical professional draft loses five to eight per cent at this layer alone.
Layer two: phrases
Once the individual words are clean, look at phrases that restate something already said.
Doubled meaning. "Each and every," "first and foremost," "basic fundamentals," "join together," "plan ahead." Keep one half.
The definition you already gave. If you defined a term in section one, you do not need to define it again in section four. A short reference is enough.
The summary of the thing you just said. "In other words," followed by the same idea in different words. Sometimes the second version is clearer and should replace the first. Often it is just repetition, and the paragraph can end a sentence earlier.
The throat-clearing. "It is interesting to consider," "In this section, we will look at," "Before we begin, it is worth noting." These are stage directions. The reader can see the section heading; they do not need to be told a section is starting.
At this layer you are looking for whole phrases that could be deleted without losing a fact or a claim. The test is whether the sentence still says the same thing. If it does, the phrase was decoration.
Layer three: sentences
Now look at sentences that repeat the work of other sentences.
The most common form is the pair: a general statement followed by a specific one that makes the same point. "The process is inefficient. Each approval requires three separate signatures and two of them are redundant." The first sentence is a label for the second. Cut the label and let the specific example carry the claim.
The second most common form is the sentence that explains a sentence that did not need explaining. If you find yourself writing "This means that…" after a clear sentence, check whether the reader needed the translation. Often they did not.
Third: the sentence that exists to transition. "Having established the problem, we can now turn to the solution." The heading already says that. Cut it.
Layer four: sections
Only after the first three layers should you consider removing a section. By then you will know which sections are essential, because the cuts will have exposed the spine.
Ask of each section: if this disappeared, what would the reader fail to understand? If the answer is "nothing, but they would miss an interesting example," the example can be cut or moved to a footnote. If the answer is "the argument would not connect," the section stays.
The sections that usually go first are the ones that establish context the reader already has. A guide for beginners does not need a history of the field. A report for the board does not need a definition of the company's own product.
What to protect
Cutting is easier when you know what must survive. Three things should never be cut to meet a limit.
The claim. Whatever the piece argues must remain explicit. A shorter piece that no longer says anything is not an edit.
The evidence. If a number or an example supports the claim, it stays. Cutting evidence to save words is how a piece becomes vague.
The qualification. If the claim only holds under certain conditions, the conditions matter. A shorter piece that overstates is worse than a longer one that is accurate.
Everything else — examples that illustrate rather than prove, context, repetition, transitional sentences, rhetorical flourishes — is negotiable.
The final check
After cutting, read the whole piece from the beginning without stopping. The most common damage from aggressive editing is a gap: a connection that used to be carried by a sentence you deleted. The reader will fall into it.
If you find a gap, do not restore the deleted sentence. Write one shorter sentence that makes the connection. You will usually save words and improve the logic at the same time.
A cut draft should feel tighter, not thinner. If it feels thinner, you have removed content rather than noise, and the next pass should put something back.