Editing Challenge Generator

What this generator does

Draws an editing constraint to apply to a draft — cut ten per cent of the words, remove every adverb, delete the first sentence. Editing is taught far less than writing and improves work far more, largely because a constraint makes the decisions for you.

What you'll get

This generator draws from a hand-checked list of 30 entries. Here is a spread of 6 of them, so you can see the style before you generate:

• Swap work with a partner and find one sentence that could be clearer.
• Find a word you have used three times and change two of them.
• Find every sentence that begins the same way as the one before it, and vary them.
• Replace three adjectives with one better noun or verb.
• Find a sentence that says the same as an earlier one, and delete one of them.
• Replace the weakest example with a better one.

A fixed sample of the list, not a live draw — your own results are picked at random from all 30, without repeating until the list runs out. Original authoring for Generate Random — general proofreading-practice prompts.. Last reviewed 2026-09-03.

How to use this tool

1. Press generate for a prompt.
2. Apply it to a piece of your own writing.

Common use cases

• Self-editing practice
• Writing-workshop revision stage
• Peer-editing sessions

How this generator works

Draws from thirty fixed constraints without repeats up to a batch of five, each a single, specific rule to apply rather than general advice to 'improve' a draft.

Randomness and fairness

Constraints are drawn uniformly with the browser's cryptographic random number generator, with no awareness of the piece being edited.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

• Nothing is remembered between visits, so weekly use will meet repeats well within a term; with the page left open, none of the thirty constraints repeats until all have been shown.
• Nothing here checks whether a constraint actually suits the piece in hand — a couple assume a piece long enough to cut, which a short first draft may not be.

Practical tips

• Apply one constraint at a time and keep both versions. Comparing them is where the learning is.
• Cutting a fixed percentage is the single most useful constraint on this list, and the most disliked.