diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index f745c17..cbe354f 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -151,6 +151,48 @@
 //!     ]
 //! );
 //! ```
+//! ## Efficiently serialize changes
+//!
+//! The edits can be serialized into a compact representation without the full
+//! original text, making the size only depends on the changes made.
+//!
+//! ```rust
+//! use reconcile_text::{EditedText, BuiltinTokenizer};
+//! use serde_yaml;
+//! use pretty_assertions::assert_eq;
+//!
+//!
+//! let original = "Merging text is hard!";
+//! let changes = "Merging text is easy with reconcile!";
+//!
+//! let result = EditedText::from_strings(
+//!     original,
+//!     &changes.into()
+//! );
+//!
+//! let serialized = serde_yaml::to_string(&result.serialise_as_change_set()).unwrap();
+//! assert_eq!(
+//!     serialized,
+//!     concat!(
+//!         "operations:\n",
+//!         "- 15\n",
+//!         "- -6\n",
+//!         "- ' easy with reconcile!'\n",
+//!         "cursors: []\n"
+//!     )
+//! );
+//!
+//! let deserialized = serde_yaml::from_str(&serialized).unwrap();
+//! let reconstructed = EditedText::from_change_set(
+//!     original,
+//!     deserialized,
+//!     &*BuiltinTokenizer::Word
+//! );
+//! assert_eq!(
+//!     reconstructed.apply().text(),
+//!     "Merging text is easy with reconcile!"
+//! );
+//! ```
 //!
 //! ## Error handling
 //!
@@ -169,7 +211,7 @@ mod tokenizer;
 mod types;
 mod utils;
 
-pub use operation_transformation::{EditedText, reconcile};
+pub use operation_transformation::{ChangeSet, EditedText, reconcile};
 pub use tokenizer::{BuiltinTokenizer, Tokenizer, token::Token};
 pub use types::{
     cursor_position::CursorPosition, history::History, side::Side,
diff --git a/src/operation_transformation.rs b/src/operation_transformation.rs
index a2ac1c5..0d99ca4 100644
--- a/src/operation_transformation.rs
+++ b/src/operation_transformation.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 mod edited_text;
 mod operation;
 mod utils;
+mod transport;
 use std::fmt::Debug;
 
-pub use edited_text::{ChangeSet, EditedText};
+
+pub use transport::{ChangeSet};
 pub use operation::Operation;
+pub use edited_text::{EditedText};
 
 use crate::{Tokenizer, types::text_with_cursors::TextWithCursors};
 
diff --git a/src/operation_transformation/edited_text.rs b/src/operation_transformation/edited_text.rs
index 3894aae..ed60515 100644
--- a/src/operation_transformation/edited_text.rs
+++ b/src/operation_transformation/edited_text.rs
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@ use std::{fmt::Debug, vec};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 use crate::{
-    BuiltinTokenizer, CursorPosition, TextWithCursors,
+    BuiltinTokenizer, ChangeSet, CursorPosition, TextWithCursors,
     operation_transformation::{
         Operation,
+        transport::SimpleOperation,
         utils::{cook_operations::cook_operations, elongate_operations::elongate_operations},
     },
     raw_operation::RawOperation,
@@ -39,31 +40,6 @@ where
     cursors: Vec<CursorPosition>,
 }
 
-/// A serializable representation of the changes made to a text document
-/// without the original text.
-#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize, Deserialize))]
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Default)]
-pub struct ChangeSet<T>
-where
-    T: PartialEq + Clone + Debug,
-{
-    operations: Vec<Operation<T>>,
-    cursors: Vec<CursorPosition>,
-}
-
-impl<'a, T> ChangeSet<T>
-where
-    T: PartialEq + Clone + Debug,
-{
-    #[must_use]
-    pub fn new(operations: Vec<Operation<T>>, cursors: Vec<CursorPosition>) -> Self {
-        Self {
-            operations,
-            cursors,
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 impl<'a> EditedText<'a, String> {
     /// Create an `EditedText` from the given original (old) and updated (new)
     /// strings. The returned `EditedText` represents the changes from the
@@ -370,23 +346,31 @@ where
     }
 
     /// Serialize the `EditedText` as a `ChangeSet`, which contains only
-    /// the operations and cursor positions, without the original text.
+    /// the operations and cursor positions, but without the original text.
     /// This is useful for sending changes over the network if there's
     /// a clear consensus on the original text.
     #[must_use]
-    pub fn serialise_as_change_set(&self) -> ChangeSet<T> {
-        ChangeSet::new(self.operations.clone(), self.cursors.clone())
+    pub fn serialise_as_change_set(&self) -> ChangeSet {
+        ChangeSet::new(
+            SimpleOperation::from_operations(&self.operations),
+            self.cursors.clone(),
+        )
     }
 
     /// Deserialize an `EditedText` from a `ChangeSet` and the original text.
     /// This is useful for reconstructing the `EditedText` on the receiving
     /// end after sending only the `ChangeSet` over the network.
     #[must_use]
-    pub fn from_change_set(text: &'a str, change_set: ChangeSet<T>) -> EditedText<'a, T> {
-        let operation_count = change_set.operations.len();
+    pub fn from_change_set(
+        text: &'a str,
+        change_set: ChangeSet,
+        tokenizer: &Tokenizer<T>,
+    ) -> EditedText<'a, T> {
+        let operations = SimpleOperation::to_operations(change_set.operations, text, tokenizer);
+        let operation_count = operations.len();
         EditedText::new(
             text,
-            change_set.operations,
+            operations,
             vec![Side::Left; operation_count],
             change_set.cursors,
         )
@@ -397,6 +381,7 @@ where
 mod tests {
     use insta::assert_debug_snapshot;
     use pretty_assertions::assert_eq;
+    use serde_yaml;
 
     use super::*;
 
@@ -438,4 +423,36 @@ mod tests {
         let operations = operations_1.merge(operations_2);
         assert_eq!(operations.apply().text(), expected);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_change_set_deserialisation() {
+        let original = "Merging text is hard!";
+        let changes = "Merging text is easy with reconcile!";
+        let result = EditedText::from_strings(original, &changes.into());
+        let serialized = serde_yaml::to_string(&result.serialise_as_change_set()).unwrap();
+
+        let expected = concat!(
+            "operations:\n",
+            "- 15\n",
+            "- -6\n",
+            "- ' easy with reconcile!'\n",
+            "cursors: []\n"
+        );
+
+        assert_eq!(serialized, expected);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_change_set_serialization() {
+        let original = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.";
+        let updated = "The quick red fox jumped over the very lazy dog!";
+
+        let edited_text = EditedText::from_strings(original, &updated.into());
+
+        let change_set = edited_text.serialise_as_change_set();
+        let deserialized_edited_text =
+            EditedText::from_change_set(original, change_set, &*BuiltinTokenizer::Word);
+
+        assert_eq!(deserialized_edited_text.apply().text(), updated);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/operation_transformation/transport.rs b/src/operation_transformation/transport.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f8fee4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/operation_transformation/transport.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,198 @@
+use std::fmt::Debug;
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
+use serde::{
+    Deserialize, Serialize,
+    de::{self, Deserializer, SeqAccess, Visitor},
+    ser::{SerializeSeq, Serializer},
+};
+
+use crate::{CursorPosition, Tokenizer, operation_transformation::Operation};
+
+#[derive(Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Debug)]
+pub enum SimpleOperation {
+    Equal { length: usize },
+
+    Insert { text: String },
+
+    Delete { length: usize },
+}
+
+impl SimpleOperation {
+    pub fn from_operations<T>(operation: &Vec<Operation<T>>) -> Vec<Self>
+    where
+        T: PartialEq + Clone + Debug,
+    {
+        let mut result: Vec<Self> = Vec::with_capacity(operation.len());
+        let mut previous_equal: Option<usize> = None;
+
+        for operation in operation {
+            match operation {
+                Operation::Equal { length, .. } => {
+                    if let Some(prev_length) = previous_equal {
+                        previous_equal = Some(prev_length + *length);
+                    } else {
+                        previous_equal = Some(*length);
+                    }
+                }
+                Operation::Insert { text, .. } => {
+                    if let Some(prev_length) = previous_equal {
+                        result.push(SimpleOperation::Equal {
+                            length: prev_length,
+                        });
+                        previous_equal = None;
+                    }
+
+                    let text: String = text
+                        .iter()
+                        .map(super::super::tokenizer::token::Token::original)
+                        .collect();
+                    result.push(SimpleOperation::Insert { text });
+                }
+                Operation::Delete {
+                    deleted_character_count,
+                    ..
+                } => {
+                    if let Some(prev_length) = previous_equal {
+                        result.push(SimpleOperation::Equal {
+                            length: prev_length,
+                        });
+                        previous_equal = None;
+                    }
+
+                    result.push(SimpleOperation::Delete {
+                        length: *deleted_character_count,
+                    });
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        if let Some(prev_length) = previous_equal {
+            result.push(SimpleOperation::Equal {
+                length: prev_length,
+            });
+        }
+
+        result
+    }
+
+    pub fn to_operations<T>(
+        simple_operations: Vec<Self>,
+        original_text: &str,
+        tokenizer: &Tokenizer<T>,
+    ) -> Vec<Operation<T>>
+    where
+        T: PartialEq + Clone + Debug,
+    {
+        let mut operations: Vec<Operation<T>> = Vec::with_capacity(simple_operations.len());
+
+        let mut order = 0;
+
+        for simple_operation in simple_operations {
+            match simple_operation {
+                SimpleOperation::Equal { length } => {
+                    let original_characters: String =
+                        original_text.chars().skip(order).take(length).collect();
+
+                    let original_tokens = tokenizer(&original_characters);
+                    for token in original_tokens {
+                        operations
+                            .push(Operation::create_equal(order, token.get_original_length()));
+                        order += token.get_original_length();
+                    }
+                }
+                SimpleOperation::Insert { text } => {
+                    let tokens = tokenizer(&text);
+                    operations.push(Operation::create_insert(order, tokens));
+                }
+                SimpleOperation::Delete { length } => {
+                    operations.push(Operation::create_delete(order, length));
+                    order += length;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        operations
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
+impl Serialize for SimpleOperation {
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+    where
+        S: Serializer,
+    {
+        // neat idea from https://github.com/spebern/operational-transform-rs/blob/9faa17f0a2b282ac2e09dbb2d29fdaf2ae0bbb4a/operational-transform/src/serde.rs#L14
+        match self {
+            SimpleOperation::Equal { length } => serializer.serialize_u64(*length as u64),
+            SimpleOperation::Insert { text } => serializer.serialize_str(text),
+            SimpleOperation::Delete { length } => serializer.serialize_i64(-(*length as i64)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for SimpleOperation {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<SimpleOperation, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        struct OperationVisitor;
+
+        impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for OperationVisitor {
+            type Value = SimpleOperation;
+
+            fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+                formatter.write_str("an integer between -2^64 and 2^63 or a string")
+            }
+
+            fn visit_u64<E>(self, value: u64) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
+            where
+                E: de::Error,
+            {
+                Ok(SimpleOperation::Equal {
+                    length: value as usize,
+                })
+            }
+
+            fn visit_i64<E>(self, value: i64) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
+            where
+                E: de::Error,
+            {
+                Ok(SimpleOperation::Delete {
+                    length: (-value) as usize,
+                })
+            }
+
+            fn visit_str<E>(self, value: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
+            where
+                E: de::Error,
+            {
+                Ok(SimpleOperation::Insert {
+                    text: value.to_owned(),
+                })
+            }
+        }
+
+        deserializer.deserialize_any(OperationVisitor)
+    }
+}
+
+/// A serializable representation of the changes made to a text document
+/// without the original text.
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize, Deserialize))]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Default)]
+pub struct ChangeSet {
+    pub operations: Vec<SimpleOperation>,
+    pub cursors: Vec<CursorPosition>,
+}
+
+impl ChangeSet {
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn new(operations: Vec<SimpleOperation>, cursors: Vec<CursorPosition>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            operations,
+            cursors,
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/test.rs b/tests/test.rs
index e9968b9..00f5163 100644
--- a/tests/test.rs
+++ b/tests/test.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ mod example_document;
 use std::{fs, path::Path};
 
 use example_document::ExampleDocument;
-use reconcile_text::{BuiltinTokenizer, reconcile};
+use reconcile_text::{BuiltinTokenizer, EditedText, reconcile};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 
 #[test]
@@ -34,6 +34,36 @@ fn test_document_one_way_with_cursors() {
     }
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_document_one_way_with_cursors_and_serialisation() {
+    for doc in &get_all_documents() {
+        let parent = doc.parent();
+        let left_operations =
+            EditedText::from_strings_with_tokenizer(&parent, &doc.left(), &*BuiltinTokenizer::Word);
+        let right_operations = EditedText::from_strings_with_tokenizer(
+            &parent,
+            &doc.right(),
+            &*BuiltinTokenizer::Word,
+        );
+
+        let serialised_left = serde_yaml::from_str(
+            &serde_yaml::to_string(&left_operations.serialise_as_change_set()).unwrap(),
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        let serialised_right = serde_yaml::from_str(
+            &serde_yaml::to_string(&right_operations.serialise_as_change_set()).unwrap(),
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+
+        let restored_left_operations =
+            EditedText::from_change_set(&parent, serialised_left, &*BuiltinTokenizer::Word);
+        let restored_right_operations =
+            EditedText::from_change_set(&parent, serialised_right, &*BuiltinTokenizer::Word);
+
+        doc.assert_eq(&restored_left_operations.merge(restored_right_operations));
+    }
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_document_inverse_way_without_cursors() {
     for doc in &get_all_documents() {