zlacker

>>cosmoj+(OP)
I couldn't disagree more with this piece, especially the idea of a "draft #4" where you go through what you've written and replace all "pedestrian" words with less common ones from the dictionary. I know these writers, and how they "write" - it's painful to read and oozes pretentiousness. You can always tell when someone tries to fake having a wider vocabulary.

>>suctio+l9
John McPhee isn't a pretentious writer at all, though, and I encourage you to try him out to test your theory. Getting rid of pedestrian words doesn't require you to replace them with ostentatious words, merely more vibrant, descriptive ones.