Cut to the Chase

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Writers love words and new writers are more guilty than most. It’s a fait accompli to limit your language even though you love it so much. Each word often becomes like a precious jewel to the writer. To cut even the most basic one is like cutting off a finger. One famous writer said, “I commit little murders in my studio every day.” To edit down or cut to the chase is a difficult task because it’s harder to state your point in fewer words. Consequently, when a first press release bursts forth on a formerly blank sheet, it invariably becomes like our first love. We can’t bear to give up a word of it.

Get real. It’s your job to go over each word scrupulously to determine if it’s really necessary. To do this, read aloud to a friend or to yourself. You’ll feel rhythms and identify rifts as your tongue stumbles over awkward phrasings. You’ll know when a sentence leaves you out of breath before you reach the period that it is too long. If hearing your words read back to you by a friend or colleague begins to sound tedious, you’ll know the reader will feel that way too. You must identify which words started beating around the bush and cut those little monsters out.

Imagine yourself a golfer. Your aim, as you review each sentence, is the main point you want your words to make, and your aim is to drive that ball down the fairway towards the green or target without veering off the course. If your words veer off to the water, you’ve lost the ball and your aim. If your point wavers toward the trees, your target is beyond your possibility. Whether the target is two feet away or two hundred, your aim mustn’t waiver. Excess words in your sentence are like a slice in your stroke, making the ball go off course. So rather than approach your press release with the idea of a certain number of words, concentrate instead on the objective of each sentence soaring straight toward that flag on the green. Make each word a hole in one!