Many writers, including myself, have received feedback that our word count is too high for our age range and genre. Especially for us debuts, we sometimes tend to over-write and make some common mistakes that inflate our word count.

But here’s the thing, it’s not that difficult to reduce the word count for pretty much any manuscript. And I hope these strategies help. We’ll focus big picture first, then end on a line level.

Research Standard Word Count by Age-Range and Genre

To know if you need to reduce your word count, it helps to understand the industry standard word count for your book’s specific age range and genre.

Especially for debuts, playing by the rules matters. Many agents and editors will pass on a manuscript based on word count alone.

Longer books take longer to revise and cost more to publish. Staying within your age-range and genre standard (and this can change over time) gives querying authors the best chance at scoring an agent and subsequently a publishing deal.

This September 2023 article by The Writer Life does a great job at breaking down today’s expectations for word count. It includes information about word count from Jane Friedman, Writer’s Digest, Story Grid, and NaNoWriMo

Word Count Reduction Strategies

1. Rethink Info Dumping

Although as writers, we’d like to think those seven paragraphs of our character thoughtfully analyzing the meaning of life while walking alone in a forest which we describe in overly descriptive detail is the exception to the rule, it’s not. Below are some common reasons for writers’ to info dump.

• To show what a character is thinking—but for paragraphs and paragraphs
• To world build—but for paragraphs and paragraphs
• “Well, you know Bob”—a common euphemism in which an author uses characters dialogue to info dump information the characters should already know.
• The narrator telling the story—but for paragraphs and paragraphs

And the truth is your story will include character interiority, world-building, and information in dialogue and narration, but keep this to a minimum and show as much as you can in-scene when possible.

Author Jane Kalmes developed a strategy called General, Specific, Personal to prevent her from info dumping. One-two sentences max of each is all that is needed to give enough detail to show but not too much to fall into telling.

Example of General, Specific, Personal

North Lake, Florida sat smack dab in the middle of the state. No majestic palm tree-lined beaches here. Instead, sparse palmettos and scrub oaks dotted the interior landscape. And despite our close proximity, I’d never set foot onto Disney property.

• General—North Lake, Florida sat smack dab in the middle of the state.

• Specific—No majestic palm tree-lined beaches here. Instead, sparse palmettos and scrub oaks dotted the interior landscape.

• Personal—And despite our close proximity, I’d never step foot onto Disney property.

Four sentences build the world and show you how the character is reacting to it. I love this formulaic way to stop the info-dump.

2. Unnecessary Subplots

My debut WORTH IT, is about a pregnant teen living in poverty with an abusive older man. At one point in a very early version, her best friend had already had a baby. Then I had a main plot following teen pregnancy and a subplot following teen motherhood. It was unnecessary and pulled tension away from the main plot. I got rid of that baby and then I had the opportunity to put the best friend in a different role with a smaller subplot that worked better.

If a subplot doesn’t add depth or pulls away from the main plot —Delete, delete, delete.

3. Unnecessary Scenes

In WORTH IT, I had a scene, okay fine it was a prologue. I had a prologue from the main character’s childhood when her parent told her they were moving to Florida. I loved it so much. But it was doing nothing to advance the plot of the actual story forward. She got axed. But, I did turn it into a short story on my website because I just love going to read it and seeing it in e-print. You can read it here THE MIMOSA TREE.

If a scene doesn’t move the main plot or a sub plot forward—Delete, delete, delete.

4. Lengthy Sentences

Now that we’ve addressed the big-picture strategies for reducing word count on a macro level, we can start to look at word count reduction on a micro level by checking for lengthy sentences.

The average length of a sentence for general fiction is 10.8 words. If your word count is too high for your age range and genre, you likely have too many lengthy sentences. And even if you don’t, it’s still a great practice to check for them.

A resource I use AutoCrit. Even in the free version you can upload chapters and check sentence length. The sentence length feature will show you the word count range of individual sentences.

The best part, is the hyperlinked visual bar graph. One click takes you to your sentence of choice and you can revise.

Example of reducing a lengthy sentence.

• Before—Afraid she would be late for the job interview, she grabbed her leather cross-body bag and tossed it over her lean frame, then she bolted out of the door. (30 words)
• After—Afraid she’d be late, she threw on her cross-body bag and bolted. (13 words)

Now this isn’t literary perfection, just an example to show how to reduce word count and not really change the meaning of the sentence. Even if the reader doesn’t know where she is going, it doesn’t really matter right now. The reader can find out that information in a different sentence.

Additionally, lengthy sentences often contain purple prose (overly flowery language) and slow pace. It’s a good idea to dig into your manuscript and work to hover the majority around the 10.8 average.

5. Filter Words

Filter Words can bulk up a manuscript. I’m going to give one example and then link an article I wrote about Filter Language.

Example of removing filter words.

• She heard birds chirping out the open window.
• Birds chirped out the open window.

Filter language also puts distance between the reader and the story and reads as telling instead of showing. In most cases, you want the reader to feel as if they are experiencing the story with the main character not through them.

Telling Versus Showing: Addressing This Common Issue By Minimizing Filter Language

Check out this great video by author Alexa Donne where she shares Fix Your Filter Words.

6. Filler Words

These are words that can typically be cut and not alter meaning. I wrote simple examples to demonstrate. This doesn’t mean to cut them each time, but do a search and if the sentence makes sense without it, cut it.

• All of (All of the students darted to the library.—The students darted to the library.)
• Just (I just don’t understand.—I don’t understand.)
• Really (I really don’t want to go.—I don’t want to go.)
• That (This is the best lasagna that I’ve ever eaten.—This is the best lasagna I’ve ever eaten.)
• The (The leaves crunched under his boot.—Leaves crunched under his boot.)
• Then (Then he turned the corner.—He turned the corner.)
• Very (I’m very excited.—I’m thrilled.—also swapped verb to show a stronger emotion than excited thereby not needing very.)
• Seemed (She seemed irritated.—She seethed.—also swapped verb.)
• So (So he picked up the phone and dialed her number.—He picked up the phone and dialed her number.)
• Started (He started to walk away.—He walked away.)
• Suddenly (He suddenly walked away.—He darted away.—also swapped verb.)

Check out this great video by author Brandon McNulty where he shares his 21 Words to Cut From your Writing.

7. Swap Adverbs + Verbs for a Stronger Verb

This is a super easy fix. Search your manuscript for -ly words. And then swap the adverb + verb for a stronger verb!

Example of swapping and adverb + verb.

• Before—I excitedly accepted the incredible opportunity.
• After—I jumped at the opportunity.

Too many adverbs + verbs also weaken writing when most of the time a stronger verb exists to correct it.

8. Contractions

In almost all narration and almost all dialogue, opt for contractions. An exception would be if one character speaks without using contractions intentionally.

Example of opting for contractions.

• Before—He would not hold her back.
• After—He wouldn’t hold her back.

9. Dialogue

Exposition in Dialogue

As mentioned earlier in Info Dumping, I’m going to highlight “As you know, Bob” again here. If characters’ conversations contain information they already know, used by the author as a tool to info-dump onto the reader, it’s not only weak writing, it’s bulking up your manuscript. Delete, delete, delete.

Check out this article by KM. Weiland where she explains this in more detail.

Dialogue Tags

You only need dialogue tags to establish who’s speaking when the reader wouldn’t know. You also don’t need them if the character has an action beat near the dialogue. Delete, delete, delete.

Check out this article at Pro Writing Aid that explains this in more detail.

Realistic Dialogue

Read your dialogue and make sure it reads realistic. Be aware of the repetitive use of names and the use of complete sentences which is not realistic dialogue. Delete, delete, delete.

Check out this article from Masterclass with tips from authors R.L. Stine and David Baldacci.

Check out this Masterclass in dialogue with author Jerry Jenkins.

10. Line Level Edits

To reduce your word count, tighten your writing, and keep your pacing on point, read each and every sentence and cut every word you can to keep the meaning but shorten the word count. While you are doing line-level edits also check for things like repetition. How many times have you mentioned his icy blue eyes or ripped abs? Not that you can’t repeat, but be cautious of repetition too close to each other it can start to feel redundant to the reader.

This article from Change It Up Editing includes some great tips for reducing words at a line level including an easy exercise to get authors started.

Check out this video by editor Ellen Brock on leveling up your sentences.

The Bottom Line

For me, the bottom line is this—when I see a word count above industry standard, opening pages full of multiple lengthy paragraphs, and unnecessary words in sentences, I feel a manuscript is bloated.

But authors only know what they know. Hopefully, these tips give you some revision guidelines to help you trim your word count and polish your submission packet—if not for me, for the next agent fortunate enough to receive your query!

And one final video by author Jenna Moreci where she gives her Top Ten Tips for trimming your word count!

There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.

Robert Graves