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The next point which we have to consider is
the correction of our work, which is by far the most
useful portion of our study: for there is good reason
for the view that erasure is quite as important a
[p. 111]
function of the pen as actual writing. Correction
takes the form of addition, excision and alteration.
But it is a comparatively simple and easy task to
decide what is to be added or excised. On the
other hand, to prune what is turgid, to elevate
what is mean, to repress exuberance, arrange what
is disorderly, introduce rhythm where it is lacking,
and modify it where it is too emphatic, involves a
twofold labour. For we have to condemn what had
previously satisfied us and discover what had escaped
our notice.
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