Summary
Robert Browning said it first, but the architect Mies van der Rohe made it famous: "Less is more." It's a fine rule for writers - let us use only necessary words - but "less is more" is not a rule to be followed blindly. Often an extra syllable or a supposedly redundant word will perk up our pearly prose. Consider:
A couple of years ago (I've lost the date) The New York Times Magazine carried an article on coal mining. It began: "Twenty-five miles south of Charleston, W.Va., the Appalachians look as they must have a thousand years ago, rapturously folded against each other ..." It was a good lead, but let us tinker.See the full content of this document
Extract
Sometimes, Less Is Less
Suppose we insert a single word. Now the lead sentence begins, "Twenty-five miles south of Charleston, W.Va., the Appalachians look as they must have lo...
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