I understand the need to edit and shorten work to meet the needs of professors or editors, but taking a well sharpened machete to your baby can be a bit of a difficult experience for anyone. It's messy, there are fragmented limbs everywhere, and it only ever ends with you shivering in a corner, your manuscript clutched between your bloody fingers, contemplating the morality of what you have just done. Over all, not a pleasant experience, even if it is a necessary one.
