Shorten Your Book Manuscript with These 12 Tips
Mark Twain once said, “A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out of it.”
If you’re writing a book and you know you have to cut words, you need this advice.
Ignore this advice at your peril. You may alienate your readers and your publisher (or potential publisher), and your book will be the worse for it.
Shorten your manuscript, and you’ll better appeal to your readers, to publishers (if you’re traditionally published), and to conventional wisdom. Come publishing time, you’ll have a better book.
Here are some ways to shorten your writing:
1. Reduce adverbs.
Search for phrases containing “very” and words ending in –ly. Use more descriptive single words instead. For example, replace “very tired” with “exhausted.” “Highly regarded” might become “esteemed.”
In Dreyer’s English (2019, pages 3–4), Benjamin Dreyer, the copy chief at Random House, advised authors to avoid the following “Wan intensifiers” and “throat clearers”: very, rather, really, quite, in fact, just (as in merely), so (as in extremely), pretty (as in “pretty tedious), of course, surely, that [being] said, actually.
2. Remove filler words.
Rewrite sentences to avoid starting with “There are” or “There is.”
Change “In spite of the fact” to “Although.”
“There is no doubt that” should begin with “No doubt.”
Replace “The question as to whether” with “Whether.”
3. Remove hedging words.
Eliminate phrases and sentences with the words “perhaps” and “maybe” and minimize or parse wordy, noncommittal language.
4. Trim redundancies.
I recommend Dreyer’s English (chapter 12) for this.
For example, “general consensus” should be “consensus.”
The “main protagonist” is the “protagonist.”
“At this moment in time” should be “At this moment” or “In the present-day.”
People don’t “gather together” or “join together.” They “gather” or “join.”
5. Write in active voice.
In American English, readers expect it. “It has been said” or “As has been assumed” obscures the actions of the subject.
Write as directly as possible.
Search for all forms of “to be” and replace them with more active verbs.
6. Avoid scaffolding and repetition.
You may not need to lay out and summarize each chapter. You certainly don’t have to do that at length.
7. Parse the citations, if applicable.
You’d be surprised how many writers add long, discursive footnotes that few people will read.
Anything in the footnotes should be to-the-point, as direct as possible. You may be able to use “short-form” footnotes or endnotes.
8. Follow the basic outline or format for your genre and look for structural consistency.
If your book is narrative fiction or creative nonfiction, are you adhering to the three-act structure? Maybe you are taking too long to set the stage or too long to wrap it up.
Is each chapter hook roughly the same length?
Do you have more stories or more examples than you need to prove your point?
Are all the chapter roughly the same length? Find the average chapter length, then make sure no chapter is more than 10 percent shorter or more than 10 percent longer than that average. If you have disparities, you need to reorganize and cut sections.
9. Ask beta readers to help.
Ask your beta readers to flag the sections that lose their interest or that seem excessive. (See my author resource on how to utilize beta readers here.)
10. Eliminate (or cut) the literature review.
For nonfiction authors in history and the social sciences, especially: do you have a dreaded “literature review”—a carryover from a thesis or a dissertation that’s now being converted into the book?
This can be shortened, pulled out of the introduction and moved to a preface, or eliminated entirely, depending upon your publisher and your audience.
11. Hire a copy editor.
A good copy editor will improve your sentence structure and can help with #1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. A good copy editor will help you write more clearly, concisely, and effectively.
I’ve written an article that explains the definition of copy editing and what a copy editor will do for you. Check it out.
I’ve also written a article detailing the going rate (the cost) for copy editing books and some money-saving tips for your edit.
12. Hire a developmental editor.
A developmental editor will help with pacing, flow, argument, structure, organization, and other big picture elements. A developmental editor will help you decide what might belong in your book’s appendix or not at all.
A developmental editor may even re-outline your manuscript to look for problems and imbalances.
With these 12 tips, you should be able to cut some words from your manuscript.
If you’re starting a project, or you’re in the early stages, here’s how you can save yourself trouble, time and money:
Know the ideal word count for your genre before it’s too late. (See my post on word counts for nonfiction here.)
Write from an outline or a template. Need help creating your nonfiction book outline?
Let it go. Or repurpose it. Accept that some material belongs in a blog, in an article, or in your next book, not in your current book.
Budget for copy editing to help ensure that your writing is more clear, concise, and efficient.
Budget for developmental editing if organization and structure is not your strong suit or you’re struggling with creating your outline.
Write, publish, and market your nonfiction book—better.
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See the typical cost for copy editing books and some money-saving tips for your edit.
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Best to you as you write and revise your masterpiece!