X is for X'ing Out

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Believe me, I know how hard it is to write a few hundred words. Sometimes, it’s like pulling teeth. (Whoops, a cliché...) So, I can imagine you won’t be excited when I say sometimes you need to “X” out some of those words.

After you’ve written your first draft and you go through with your green pen to edit the story, think about some of the ways you can delete some of those extra words.

For instance:

Stand up = stand (unless you really do mean stand down)
Adverbs with “ly” (remember: “crept” is more powerful (and less words) than “walked slowly”) — get rid of as many as you can
X out weak verbs — can you rewrite a sentence to avoid “was”? Or how about “very”?

New York Times Bestselling author Steve Berry says writers should always be conscious of “writing tight” — which is another way of saying, “Keep it simple.”

Gotta jet! It’s time for me to “X” out some words.

— Chase Superman Duffy