Focus on Economy

Editing for economy involves reducing the number of words needed to express an idea or convey information. Often you can achieve greater economy in your writing by removing unnecessary modifiers, removing unnecessary introductory phrases such as there are and it is, and eliminating stock phrases. Editing for economy generally makes it easier for your readers to understand your meaning, but you should use care; your readers still need to understand the point you are trying to make (see Chapter 16).