The best advice my brother has given me

About 7 years ago, my brother gave me some advice. After reading one of my school papers, he suggested that I use fewer prepositions in my writing to aid in clarity and economy. Everytime I write for school, I'm reminded of this advice.

This is in contrast to my mother's advice which came much earlier. My mom suggested adding fluff to meet minimum length requirements. This worked well in elementary and middle school.

Funny thing is, these days there aren't minimum length requirements. As my thesis professor says, if you get the job done, you can never be too brief.