1. Pretend you must pay $1 for every word. Cut accordingly. 2. After you've written the first draft of your essay/chapter, delete the first paragraph entirely.

1. Pretend you must pay $1 for every word. Cut accordingly. 2. After you've written the first draft of your essay/chapter, delete the first paragraph entirely. This usually helps. 3. Write like you speak, and you'll find your voice faster. 4. Vary your sentence structure. 5. Periods are almost always better than colons, semi-colons, or dashes. 6. Read quality writing as much as possible. 7. Write and edit on different days.