Good writing is concise. It doesn't waste words.

To see the value of concise (sometimes called tight) writing, consider this proverb:

"In the absence of the feline race, certain small rodents will give themselves up to various pleasures."

What does that mean?

"When the cat's away, the mice will play."

If the proverb really read "In the absence of the feline race . . .” how long would people remember it? But everyone knows the concise version.

Conciseness makes you popular with both editors and readers, so use these five ideas to edit your writing to its most concise level.

Eliminate excess prepositional phrases

Prepositional phrases often add nothing. Many just complicate sentences. For example, in the previous sentence I could have written, "Many of them just complicate sentences." What does of them add? The sentence is understandable without that prepositional phrase, so I saved two words.

Too many prepositions exist to list them all, but some are for, from, and of. Run an online search and you’ll find dozens more. Then root them out.

Avoid weak verbs

Cut words by replacing weak verbs with stronger ones. You'll remember the concept of helping or linking verbs from high school English. These verbs carry no real meaning. Again, there are too many to list, but examples include can, has, was, and will.

You can't always avoid these weak verbs. Indeed, I used one in the preceding sentence. But when possible substitute a stronger verb. Doing so will make writing more concise. (Did you notice the word will? It’s weak and adds nothing. Kill it and save a word.)

"Doing so makes writing more concise."

During my final editing process, I search for prepositions and weak verbs, killing or rewriting as many as possible. It’s labor-intensive but saves a ton of words. One caveat: don’t change the meaning.

Kill excessive adjectives and adverbs

Good journalists eliminate almost all adjectives and adverbs because they may mislead readers. A well-trained journalist wouldn't write, "The mayor stridently said he doesn't support a tax increase." She’d leave out the adverb stridently. Although your story or book may not be journalistic in nature, learn from these trained writers to trim unnecessary, and perhaps misleading, adjectives and adverbs.

Use active voice, not passive voice

In active voice, the subject does the acting. In passive voice, the subject is acted on. Here’s an example:

Passive: The tax increase was approved by the commissioners.

Active: Commissioners approved the tax increase.

Notice how active voice shortens sentences. I saved three words. That's conciseness.

Cut words that add nothing

You may have heard the advice to "write as you speak." Generally, that's good advice. Good writing is unpretentious, just like our speech. The snag is that conversation contains filler words that don't add anything.

Here’s an example:

Mickey Mantle played such great baseball.

What does such add? Nothing. Killing it saves a word without changing meaning.

Mickey Mantle played great baseball.

Edit ruthlessly. Cut every unnecessary word. You’ll pack in more content, because the fewer words you use to express a thought, the more ideas you can squeeze in.