Compress to a target length
Cut it in half without losing information — the work is picking out what actually matters
Compress the passage below to [target word count] words or fewer. Rules: 1) keep every fact, number, and conclusion; 2) cut the wind-up, the repeated explanations, and the ornament; 3) merge sentences if you need to, but do not change cause and effect. [paste your text]
How to use
Cut 30 percent first and read it. If nothing is lost, the original was padded — then go to half.
Good for
- There is a hard limit — a 300-word conference abstract, a 200-character bio — and you do not want to lose any of the content.
- You have read it and every paragraph seems necessary, but nobody finishes it: you need an outside standard for what can go.
Not for
- You have not settled who this is meant to persuade: compression cuts wind-up first, and wind-up is sometimes the part that makes the conclusion land.
- It is a procedure someone follows step by step: cutting the 'redundant' explanation is how people end up doing the wrong thing.
Example
Input
This release did three things: consolidated navigation from five entry points to two, cut homepage load from 4.2s to 1.6s, and added keyboard support on mobile.
What you get
Keeps all three changes and every number, drops the 'did three things' frame, and folds it into one sentence or three fragments; no change in cause and effect, no added evaluation.
Common mistakes
- Giving no target length and only saying 'tighten it up' — it cuts by its own taste, often 40 percent, when 10 was what you needed.
- Asking for 'more concise' and 'more persuasive' at once: when the goals collide it quietly adds adjectives back to restore the force.
Try tweaking it like this
- Change 'keep every fact' to 'you may drop secondary arguments, but keep the conclusion' when you already know you want to cut half the case.
- Add 'output the cut list before the body' when you have to justify the deletions to someone else.