Here are some quick and easy things you can do to tighten up a manuscript and bring down the word count without having to rewrite:

1. “started to,” “continued to,” “commenced to,” “began to.” Most of the time, these are unnecessary. Not only that, but they imply that the action will at some point be interrupted – “She started to wash the dishes, but the doorbell rang” – or that something else is going on – “She continued to wash the dishes as the fight raged on in the dining room.” You can trim a lot of fat by deleting these constructions when they aren’t needed.

2. “that.” Another word that is often used unnecessarily and can be cut without affecting the sentence.

3. “proceeded to.” I’m not sure how this construction became so popular, but I delete it almost every time I see it outside of dialogue.

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Stacia Seaman