Woody Flowers Award

[Woody1458]

Getting this darn essay down to 600 words is harder then getting the robot down to 120 pounds! Anyone have any suggestions? Im at 631

[jamie_1930]

Contractions?

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Woody1458

Getting this darn essay down to 600 words is harder then getting the robot down to 120 pounds! Anyone have any suggestions? Im at 631

1. Spell Woodie's name right.
2. The small word count is intentional - the reviewers want to see students who can communicate their ideas clearly and concisely.
3. Look for and eliminate repetition.
4. Avoid "fluff". Make sure you pack maximum content into each sentence.
5. When out of other options, look at your prioritized list of topics you wanted to include and cut back topics from the bottom of the list.

[Woody1458]

I think I got them. Can you contract "he is" or "Mr Fakelastname is"?

[quadrinim]

removing some of the details from your sentences and hyphens (but don't put any spaces between-the words) for ideas that flow one after another but are too short for their own sentences and where commas would be inappropriate

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Woody1458

I think I got them. Can you contract "he is" or "Mr Fakelastname is"?

Yes, but don't go overboard.

[amariealbrecht]

just eliminate everything that is not completly pertinent to your mentor. Get rid of fluff...typing one myself its hard, also try complex sentances

[Meredith Novak]

Let someone else cut it for you.

[GBIT]

Originally Posted by Meredith Novak

Let someone else cut it for you.

The power of collaborative proof-reading is amazing... Also cut out things that are not specific to the mentor. The judges are judging the mentor not the team...

[Woody1458]

Originally Posted by Meredith Novak

Let someone else cut it for you.

Thank you for the tip! I did exactly that and we got it down to 599. btw entry has now been closed so congrats to everyone and lets all hope for the best!

[AlexD744]

Originally Posted by Meredith Novak

Let someone else cut it for you.

Amen to that. I have a freind that could cut down 300 words with keeping the content so the night it was due I asked if he could work his magic and cut only 100. The thing is that he loves this stuff. He did all the grammer for our Future City essay and he cut it from 1,100 to 700. It was amazing. I guess I'm lucky to have someone like that.