Cutting a draft without losing its voice

By Natália Kováč, content writer and editor

Most drafts I edit are about a third too long. That is normal: when you write, you think on the page, and thinking leaves tracks. The trouble starts when cutting turns a warm, readable text into a list of flat statements. Here is how I trim without sanding the personality off.

First cut the scaffolding, not the sentences

Look for the lines that were written for the writer, not the reader: "In this section we will look at", "It is worth mentioning that", "As discussed above". They helped you find your way while drafting. The reader does not need the map once the road is built. Deleting them often saves ten percent before you touch a single real idea.

Keep one example per point

Examples are where a text sounds like a person, so I rarely delete all of them. But two examples that prove the same thing are one too many. Keep the more concrete one, the one with a number, a place or a small detail, and let the other go.

Shorten words before you shorten thoughts

"At this point in time" becomes "now". "In order to" becomes "to". "Has the ability to" becomes "can".

These swaps feel tiny, but across a page they add up, and they make the voice sound more relaxed rather than less.

Read the trimmed version out loud

Cutting can leave sentences that are technically fine but bump into each other. If you stumble while reading aloud, add back a small connector ("so", "still", "that said"). A slightly longer text that flows beats a shorter one that reads like a telegram.

A five-minute routine

1. Delete every sentence that announces what comes next.
2. Pick the strongest example for each point.
3. Swap long phrases for short words.
4. Cut the first paragraph if the second one starts better.
5. Read it aloud once and smooth the joins.