Avoid using extra words.

Strong writing is succinct. For the same reason that a painting should not have unnecessary lines and a machine should not have unnecessary parts, a sentence should not contain any unnecessary words and a paragraph should not contain any needless sentences. It is not necessary for the writer to use just brief phrases, to exclude any detail, or to merely handle the subjects in an overview; rather, each word must serve a purpose.

Many commonly used expressions go against this rule.

He is a man who he in a hasty manner hastily this is a subject that this subject is the question as to whether (the question whether) there is no doubt but that no doubt (doubtless) utilized for fuel reasons.

Her tale is an odd one. Her tale is peculiar.

the justification for this is because

That is a very crippling statement, the fact. It needs to be changed in each sentence it appears in.

Because I was unaware of the fact that I was unaware that (did not know) the fact that he had not succeeded in his failure, I would like to draw your attention to this fact and remind you of it.

the realization that I had arrived

See Chapter IV's use of the phrases "case," "character," and "nature." Who is, which was, and similar terms are frequently unnecessary.

His cousin, a worker at the same company

His cousin, who works for the same company

Trafalgar was Nelson's final conflict. Trafalgar, Nelson's final conflict

Many of the examples provided under Rules 14 and 15 show this rule as well, since the active voice is more succinct than the passive and a positive statement is more concise than a negative one.

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