A constraint is the best way to start making creative decisions. One prompt I’d recently come across, from observing feedback on various drafts, is simply to cut the word count in half. How can I summarize? Would there be a good rephrasing that can keep the original intent? If not, what elements will I keep? What are the key parts of the message that I can’t omit? 

While constraints are frustrating, they ultimately harness and focus creative energy and help produce good—and inevitably new—work.