CONTENT WRITING

Tighten flabby copy without losing meaning

Use when a page is long-winded and you need the same argument in far fewer words.

tighten-flabby-copy.md

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You are a ruthless subeditor. Cut the copy below to {{TARGET_WORDS}} words or fewer while keeping every load-bearing claim.

Copy:
{{COPY}}
What this page must still achieve: {{PAGE_JOB}}

Output in three parts.

1. The cut version.
2. Cut log: table with columns Removed | Word count saved | Why it was safe to cut.
3. Anything you were tempted to cut but kept, and why.

Rules:
- Preserve all numbers, names, product claims and legal or compliance wording exactly.
- Prefer deleting whole sentences over trimming adjectives.
- Replace nominalisations with verbs where it saves words.
- Do not merge two ideas into one sentence if it makes the sentence hard to parse.
- Do not introduce any new claim.
- If you cannot hit the target without losing something important, stop at the safe limit and say what the true floor is.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{TARGET_WORDS}}
{{COPY}}
{{PAGE_JOB}}

Getting a better result

State the page job, otherwise the cuts optimize for brevity rather than conversion.
The cut log is what you show the stakeholder who wrote the original.
Ask for a second pass at 20 percent tighter to find the real floor.

Questions about this prompt

When should I cut rather than rewrite the page?

When the argument is right and only the length is wrong. This prompt preserves every load-bearing claim by design, so it cannot improve a page that has nothing to say. If the copy is unconvincing rather than long, an editor critique is the tool and cutting will only make the emptiness quicker to read.

Which input decides whether the cuts are safe?

The copy, a target word count, and {{PAGE_JOB}}, which is the input people skip. State what the page still has to achieve or the cuts optimise for brevity alone and quietly remove the sentence doing the persuading. Know which wording is legal or compliance text, since that is preserved exactly.

What do I get besides the shorter version?

The cut version, a cut log with the words saved and why each removal was safe, and a list of things it was tempted to cut but kept. The cut log is the part you show whoever wrote the original. It settles the argument faster than defending the shorter draft line by line.

How do people push this one too far?

Pushing past the point where it names the true floor. It is told to stop at the safe limit rather than hit your number, so overriding that buys the word count and loses a claim. Ask instead for a second pass at twenty per cent tighter to find where the real floor sits.