Up through about 10th grade, writing assignments included a deadline AND a minimum word count. It was amusing (to me) to see that some kids turned in EXACTLY 500 words or whatever it was. One of the less brilliant in that group would simply stop without consideration for whether the sentence was complete, much less the paragraph or idea. At some point, though, I joined the work force and the papers I wrote had to address the subject, persuasively and with accuracy and care. And about half the time, the person who wanted the paper was an editor, so after I finished, she “refinished”… and I proofed her changes… The results were… better… but usually a lot less creative.
Up through about 10th grade, writing assignments included a deadline AND a minimum word count. It was amusing (to me) to see that some kids turned in EXACTLY 500 words or whatever it was. One of the less brilliant in that group would simply stop without consideration for whether the sentence was complete, much less the paragraph or idea. At some point, though, I joined the work force and the papers I wrote had to address the subject, persuasively and with accuracy and care. And about half the time, the person who wanted the paper was an editor, so after I finished, she “refinished”… and I proofed her changes… The results were… better… but usually a lot less creative.