Cut a text down without losing anything important

Cutting a text down seems simple: you just take out the sentences you don’t need. But deciding which ones you don’t need is the hardest part of all. What information can the reader do without? Which repetition is actually unnecessary, and which repetition does something for the rhythm? And at what point, while cutting, did you change the meaning without noticing?

Editing isn’t about cutting as many words as possible. When you shorten a text, you run the risk of making it less clear. If, for example, you keep only the sentence saying that someone falls silent, but cut what led up to that silence, you remove exactly the connection that gives the sentence its meaning.

And one more thing: not every sentence you would have written differently is wrong. As an editor, you can’t quietly take over as the writer. You have to be able to explain why a change is needed: less padding, a clearer reference, a better order. And change the tone only if the assignment calls for it.

That’s why in this writing exercise you get an existing text. You don’t write a new story. You hand in a shorter version that reads more clearly. It’s essential that the facts, the event, and the narrator’s voice stay recognizable.

Intermediate exercise: The same event, a hundred words shorter

Edit the source text below down to 110 to 140 words. Cut padding and repetition, fix unclear references, and tighten the sequence where needed. Don’t add new facts, thoughts, or actions. Keep the first person, the plain tone, and the event intact: the visit, the yellow raincoat, the request for help, and the answer that never comes must all stay. Submit only your edited version.

The Source Text

When I walked into my mother’s place on Friday, I saw right away that a lot had changed. In the hallway there were three cardboard boxes next to the coat rack. There didn’t use to be any boxes in the hallway, but now there were. My mother said she was moving next week. I already knew that, of course, because she had told me on the phone three days earlier.

On the floor lay a hook that had broken off the wall. For years a yellow raincoat had hung on it, which I always put on as a kid when I walked to school in the rain. It was a rather old raincoat that had gotten worn out by now. My mother said she had put that coat in one of the boxes. I asked her which box, but she couldn’t remember exactly. There were a lot of boxes, of course, so that wasn’t so strange either.

We walked to the kitchen. She put two cups on the table and asked if I could help her on Saturday with moving the last of her things. I said that I actually had other plans on Saturday and that I didn’t know yet whether I could come. She nodded. It was quiet for a moment, a silence that I found rather uncomfortable. Then she went to make the coffee. I looked at the boxes in the hallway and thought one more time about that yellow raincoat.

• Length: 110 to 140 words
• Time: 45 minutes

Learning Objective

Practice targeted editing: make a text shorter, clearer, and tighter without making up information, shifting the meaning, or losing the narrator’s voice.

Criteria

• Fidelity: the edited version keeps the events and how they connect; no necessary information disappears, and nothing new is added.
• Cutting: repetition, padding, and explanation that serves no purpose disappear, while meaningful details stay in place.
• Clarity: references, order, and sentence structure are clear; it’s always obvious who says or does what.
• Voice: the first person and the plain tone stay recognizable; the editor doesn’t write a new story.

Now it’s your turn to edit. Read your shortened version side by side with the source text one more time: is all the necessary information still there, and did you avoid adding anything of your own?

Paste only your final version in the box below. ViaScripta looks at how you cut, how you clarified the text, and how you kept the writer’s voice. You don’t need an account.

Want more practice? Browse the full list of writing exercises.