Cut Your First Draft by 20%

Why this matters

Every first draft is 20–30% longer than it needs to be — not because writers are bad, but because writing requires saying something twice to figure out what you meant to say once. A disciplined 20% word-count reduction forces the decision about which words actually carry weight.

Try it yourself

1. Take a 200-word piece of copy, set a target of 160 words, and cut without losing any claims or CTAs — track which types of words you removed most.
2. After cutting, read both versions aloud and note whether any meaning was lost or any sentence improved by compression.
3. Identify the single sentence that was hardest to cut from and ask why — the answer often reveals over-attachment to a phrase rather than the idea.

References

• William Strunk Jr. — The Elements of Style (Rule 17)