Creative Editing... submitted by Chris Fabiszewski

part 4

               Progressive Tenses focus on activity in process. They are NOT passive even though they                    include a be verb! Think of them as video clips. Use them for background activities.
           *   Present:  in progress now                       She is eating breakfast now.
           *   Past:    in progress before                       She was eating when the phone rang.
           *   Future: in progress latelr                          She will be eating breakfast tomorrow

                Perfect Tenses: focus on completed action. Use these when it's important to show that
                something was completed (or experiences) before soethng else.
            *   Present:  done before now                        I have ridden a camel.
            *   Past: done before past event                     I had ridden a camel before I left Africa.
            *   Future: done before future event             I will have ridden a camel by noon.
         
 *   Modal Verbs add various meanings,  including
        *   certainty (or doubt):    It will rain tomorrow,  vs  It might rain tomorrow.
        *   levels of obligation:   You should  study. vs You had better study. vs You must study.
        *   regret (or reprimand) I should have called. vs You ought to have known better.

2. SUBTRACT:  Use search/Replace, a word list, a thesaurus, and a gramar to tighten the text.
     *    Dead Wood: Delete wordoos that add no new information or that have no meaning
             *   Remove details that add very little new information (like a long list of candy names!)
             *   Replace meanngless words like thing or stuff...and sometimes that and it.