Today, an exercise in reduction!
The 10% Solution
The average book page contains 250 words.
Today, you’re going to choose a page of a book (yours or someone else’s — doesn’t matter) and cut ten percent of it — 25 words.
Go through that page and knock it down by 10%, maintaining the rhythm and drive and purpose of the page, but tightening it.
This exercise helps you learn how to trim the fat by giving you an arbitrary but achievable goal with definitive context. You’re not “cutting down a little” or “tweaking” — you’re cutting 25 words from a page.
Go to it!