Here’s a little homework for you, to practice your editing and writing skills:

Find something you’ve written, perhaps an abstract, a specific aims page. Or find something someone else has written. Try for about 500 words (that’s about a page of single-spaced, 12-point typing).

Copy and paste it into a new document. Now make it 250 words. Yes, in half. Here’s a hint: it’s not just about cutting. It’s also about rewriting.

Copy and paste that into a new document. Now cut it to 100 words. Same hint applies.

Now take each of these—the 500-, 250- and 100-word versions—and translate them each into layperson language, keeping the word count the same.

Come back here and comment: How did that go? Did you notice anything—what was hardest and what was easiest? What was lost in each round of cuts? Will you take anything from one version and carry it through to the others?

To prove that it’s possible, feel free to send me your sample and I’ll show you how I’d do it!