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Dick Margulis wrote:
>
> He presented the class, on the first day of the semester, a mimeographed one-page list of rules that, if we >followed them, would turn us into competent expository writers. One of the rules was this: If you find a >sentence in your essay that you are particularly fond of, delete it.
I've heard this rule formulated in two ways. One of my teachers
phrased it as "Murder your darlings." Robert Graves said, "The
writer's best friend is the wastebasket."
Like Dick, I've found this rule invaluable over the years.
In fact, now that Cathy Moore and Dick have reminded me of it, I'd
go so far as to say that it is probably the single most valuable
rule for separating the ego-driven writer from the work-focused
writer. The ego-driven writer is usually focused on individual
phrases, and is too self-indulgent to remove a pet expression. The
work-focused writer will remove the phrase if the work as a whole is
stronger for doing so.
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"Willie was the golden boy, possessed of style and grace,
Where another man might fold his hand, he found the extra ace,
Willie he turned rotten in some secret, ugly way,
Now I look in children's faces, I see Willie."
- Garnet Rogers
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