Trim stories, don't butcher them

I had the feeling some of you charged out of the classroom today intent on using the delete key as a samurai sword on the latest assignment. I have asked for this collection of 1,800 words (I hesitate to call it writing) to come down to 900, and many of you asked why leave that many standing.

I'm a believer in less is more, that longer writing is easier to do than concise writing ("I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one," Mark Twain said -- yea verily). But please use caution that you leave the essential information in this story. If you think you have done that in fewer than 900 words, fine. But I'll be checking it twice over Thanksgiving.

So don't start acting like John Belushi as the Samurai Deli Owner.