deletion

Of course, Gramsci's adorable little murder mitten looks harmless enough here - but he tried to put it to work on the keyboard quite a few times.  He particularly likes stretching around the screen when I'm typing away ... or deleting away.  I had one of those days today that involved more excision than substitution, and that, in turn, meant getting rid of what I thought were, in themselves, good paragraphs that represented a good deal of research and thought... but did they actually fit my argument?  Thematically they were relevant, indeed - but the chapter, and indeed the book, has developed a sharper focus since they first made their appearance.  So I suspect that they'll stay out, not least because the book will be pressing up tightly against its word limit.  But cutting things away is never an easy thing to do ...