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The inaccurate astrologer

June 23rd 2010 09:46
bloggercises pen
My astrologer’s advice to me the other day was not to over-complicate things.

My advice to my astrologer is not to over-write things.

Consider the following sentences. 1. With a full moon winking alluringly at Ursa Major this week, it is best not to over-complicate things. 2. With a full moon winking alluringly at Ursa Major this week, it is best not to complicate things.


Grammatical considerations aside, there is no difference in meaning.

The definition of complicate is “to make complex”. There is no such word as over-complicate. If there were, things would get over-messy.


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A writer's tool kit: redundancies

September 22nd 2009 23:56
bloggercises pen

Some follow-up thoughts reinforcing yesterday's post on the issue of overused words, which is a subset of the broader subject of redundancies.

The need to explain is human but is poor writing.

The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out.


It is poor writing to include every detail - it is good writing to know what to leave out.

The human imagination can provide far more detail than writing ever can, so leaving the message largely to the reader's imagination is the way to deliver the most powerful message.

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