Today I successfully performed my first Lookectomy, a very delicate operation by which I was able to remove 50% of the words,’look,’ ‘looked’, ‘looking,’ etc., without damaging the rest of my manuscript. This is no mean feat*, as anyone who ever tried to find an appropriate synonym will tell you. I also managed to get rid of a whole bunch of ‘Ok’s’ a far less challenging task.

*Why are feat always so mean? Do you think a Snickers would help?