Written by Richard Ketchen, a Vancouver-based corporate writer that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Click here to subscribe to his monthly newsletter.

Woodrow Wilson once said, “If I am to speak for ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if for fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour two days; if an hour, I am ready now.”

In many ways, the same is true for business writing. It simply takes longer to write short. Brevity, however, is one of the keys to reaching and connecting with your audience. Unfortunately, most writers just don’t know when to quit writing or how to cut unneeded copy.

Where do you start cutting copy?
The best place to start is in accepting that you usually have too much copy. Often twice as much as you need. This makes it easier to cut, not so much entire sentences or paragraphs, but words and phrases. You’ll find that you can say the same thing in fewer words and sharpen your meaning.

Cutting up to half of what you write bit by bit teaches you economy of language. It also helps you triumph over your ego. Kill those treasured but useless words or phrases. And don’t belabour points. Make them and move on.

When is the best time to start cutting copy?
A good rule of thumb is to start cutting when you’re happy with what the copy says. Then use this process:

• Read the copy onscreen, deleting as many words as possible.
• Look at each sentence and paragraph and even section and ask  whether it’s needed.
• Print your revised copy and read it on paper or aloud, crossing out every unnecessary word.
• Make and review the revisions onscreen and cut more words.
• Print the copy again and delete yet more words.
• Make the changes onscreen and then look at every remaining word  and ask whether it’s essential.

At this point, you’ve probably lost perspective and focus from reading your work. So take a well-deserved break and put your writing away for at least 24 hours. You’ll be amazed by how much you see when you come back to it with a fresh eye. Or, give your work to a colleague to review or hire an editor.