Examples:
BEFORE: Mistakes are often made by people. (6 words)
AFTER: People often make mistakes. (4 words)
BEFORE: The king wanted Robin to be caught. (7 words)
AFTER: The king wanted to catch Robin. (6 words)
BEFORE: Narasimha was asked by Veerbhadra to calm down. (8 words)
AFTER: Veerbhadra asked Narasimha to calm down. (6 words)
BEFORE: Surpanakha had her ears cut off by Lakshmana. (8 words)
AFTER: Lakshmana cut off Surpanakha's ears. (5 words)
BEFORE: The giant's foolishness was taken advantage of by Jack. (9 words)
AFTER: Jack took advantage of the giant's foolishness. (7 words)
BEFORE: Sita's behavior was not understood by Rama and his brother. (10 words)
AFTER: Rama and his brother did not understand Sita's behavior. (9 words)
BEFORE: Eve was fooled by the snake into eating the apple. (10 words)
AFTER: The snake fooled Eve into eating the apple. (8 words)
BEFORE: Maricha was shot through the heart with one of Rama’s golden arrows. (12 words)
AFTER: Rama shot Maricha through the heart with a golden arrow. (10 words)
BEFORE: You will be amazed at the things that are revealed in these diaries. (13 words)
AFTER: These diaries reveal things that will amaze you. (8 words)
BEFORE: Menaka was sent by Indra to seduce Vishvamitra, but she was rejected by him. (14 words)
AFTER: Indra sent Menaka to seduce Vishvamitra, but he rejected her. (10 words)
For more strategies to use in reducing your word count while improving your writing, see this list: Short and Sweet Writing Strategies.
Vishwamitra and Menaka by Raja Ravi Varma (1890)
