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<<your writing
will be improved if you delete any phrases that you are especially
fond of.>>
Do you really need to take it quite this far?
Okay, up to a point, I agree. To do a good job of editing any piece of
writing -- technical or otherwise -- you must relinquish the idea that some
word or phrase is so wonderful that it *must* remain, no mater what. If it
doesn't serve the piece as a whole, it has to go. In fact, this is another
reason why we need separate editors. They didn't do the writing, and so
have no particular attachment to any specific part of it.
(BTW, this also applies to filmmaking. That's why there's always a separate
editor.)
But do you need to go so far as saying that *any* word or phrase that makes
you say, "This is so great, I just *gotta* fit it in!" has to be removed.
Maybe some of then really do deserve to stay. You can't summarily decide to
keep them all, but must you summarily decide to get rid of them all?
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