
The Day You Became a Better Writer (2007) - lukasm
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/06/the_day_you_bec.html
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combatentropy

      > Simple means getting rid of extra words.
      > Don't write, "He was very happy" when you can write "He was happy."
      > You think the word "very" adds something.
      > It doesn't.
      > Prune your sentences.
    

Yes, and this is corroberated by three of the classics on English composition:
_The King 's English_, _The Elements of Style_ , and _On Writing Well_. Good
writing comes down to inspecting every word of every sentence.

    
    
      > I rewrote it a dozen times.
    

And rewriting and rewriting. Writing is rewriting. Experienced professionals
rewrite more than novices. I think some people think it's the other way
around, that the more you write, the less you have to rewrite. I suppose it
comes out better the first time, but I think writers who prize clarity and
grace in their writing get addicted to pruning and rearranging and rewording.
Again this is corroberated by _On Writing Well_. He pastes in a scan of one of
his draft pages, with editor's marks all over it. It wasn't his first draft,
it was his fourth or fifth draft.

Writing is a lot like programming in this regard. It takes refactoring.

