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Communication · a life skill

Advanced Written Briefs

edit by taking out

When a draft isn't working, the instinct is to add: another paragraph of context, a caveat, a line to soften the ask. Most briefs get better the other way. Advanced brief writing is an editing habit. Before asking what's missing, ask what can go, take out whole sentences, look again once more, and only then read it as your reader will.

  • Challenging
  • Life-Changing impact
  • Learn it: 30 days
  • Cut before you add
the editing loop, subtraction first
An editing loop: draft, ask what can go, cut, read it cold, then send or loop back A state diagram. From the start dot, a draft leads to the question “what can go?”, then to cutting whole sentences, then to reading the brief cold, as the reader would. From reading it cold, a dashed path loops back to “what can go?” once more, and a solid path leads to send. Beside it, a draft page shows several struck-out lines and one dotted line that was never added. draft what can go? before “what's missing?” cut sentences read it cold look again send the draft a line not added

An illustration, not data. Hover a step to see where it happens.

The method

Ask what can go, every time.

  1. Finish the draft, then stop adding

    Get everything down once. From here on, a new line has to replace an old one, not join it.

  2. Ask “what can go?” first

    Say it out loud before you ask what's missing. Removing rarely occurs to us unless something prompts it, so make the prompt yourself.

  3. Cut whole sentences

    Trimming words saves little. Take out a sentence and ask whether anyone would notice: the history, the second reason, the reassurance.

  4. Look once more

    When you think it's done, go round once more and look only for things to remove. A second look finds cuts the first one missed.

  5. Read it cold, as them

    Wait a few minutes, or read it on your phone. Check that nothing they need was cut, then send it.

    Stop adding, ask what can go, cut sentences, look once more, read it cold.

Example: An incident note goes from twelve sentences to seven. The thanks, the history of the supplier and the “other companies have this problem too” go; the cause, the fix and the sign-off you need stay.

Cut desk

Cut to 60% without losing what they need.

1 · Pick a draft, or paste your own

2 · Cut sentences until it fits

    3 · Play it untimed, or against the clock

    1:30

    4 · Your rounds

      Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.

      The research behind it

      People look for something to add, and overlook what they could take away.

      Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin Converse, Andrew Hales and Leidy Klotz ran 8 experiments in which people were asked to improve something: a Lego structure, a grid pattern, an essay, an itinerary, a university. Taking something away would often have been the better change, but people mostly looked for things to add.

      They were even less likely to find the subtractive change when nothing reminded them that removing was an option, when they had only one try (and so never saw their additions fall short), and when they were busy with something else at the same time. A prompt, a second attempt and a clearer head all helped.

      It isn't a fixed rule. A 2024 study by Joshua Juvrud, Lauren Myers and Pär Nyström found cues to subtract helped only somewhat, and adults still leaned towards adding in every task they gave them. And none of these tasks was a written brief: using it to edit one is our step. That's why the steps put the question “what can go?” in your way on purpose, and give you a second look.

      In three comparisons, people found more subtractive changes with a cue to subtract, with more than one try, and with a clear head, than without What helped Without it With it a cue to subtract + + + + − + + + − − a second try + + + + − + + + − − a clear head + + + + − + + + − − + an added change − a removed change A sketch of which way each result went, not its size.
      After Adams, Converse, Hales & Klotz (2021), “People systematically overlook subtractive changes”, Nature 592, from the paper's abstract and the University of Virginia release. Counts of chips are illustrative. Caveat: Juvrud, Myers & Nyström (2024), Scientific Reports.

      The idea

      Why it works.

      Each extra sentence in a brief feels like a small kindness: more context, one more reason, a reassurance. Together they bury the part the reader needs. Adding feels like work done; cutting feels like loss, so we don't think of it.

      Making subtraction a deliberate step puts it back on the table. A fixed budget, a second pass and a cold read each give you another chance to notice what can go, and the reader gets a brief where every line earns its place.

      When it goes wrong

      Habits that help.

      • Keep a “cut” file. Paste removed paragraphs there. Knowing they aren't lost makes them easier to let go.
      • Don't cut the ask, the cause or the date. Subtraction is for what they don't need, not for what they do.
      • Edit when you're fresh. A tired or distracted edit is when we're least likely to spot what could go.
      • Trade, don't stack. If a line must go in, choose one to come out.

      Go deeper

      Keep going.

      Keep this going in the app.

      HourLife turns these ideas into a daily system — goals, habits, focus, and reflection in one private place.

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