I recently finished reading William Strunk's Elements of Style. The book mostly teaches how to write concise paragraphs (e.g. by removing, changing, and rearranging words).
So I decided to apply that to my writing:
Saki
practicallyspent everyday absorbed in other of herfavoritepastimes: making porcelain dolls. She had set a mini-studio in her room whichmainlyconsisted on a sewing machine, alargeadjustable desk, and a flexible lamp. Hanging on a wall, she had a wide variety of fabrics in all patterns and colors. Beneath, she kept the doll'snakedbodies and a tin can filled with tiny glass eyes. The finished dolls sat on themanyshelves around the room;, andthey were almost of all styles: Japanese, Chinese, Indian, African, even one shaped as a Tim Burton character. Her roomhad the characteristics of awas a true doll factory.Although she had nearly a hundred of dolls, she never sold any.
Nor had planned to do so in the future.She just enjoyed making themThe joy of making them was enough for her. She likedthe fact thathow she could turn them into anything she wanted them to become. Or, as Saki put itherself: into anything they wanted to become. Each doll had a flower inside, waiting to bloom. AllthatSaki had to do was to bring it out. It feltso easy andnatural to Saki she sometimes felt the dolls where the ones building themselves.
Are there times when it's better to be redundant in order to vary pacing or add flavor to the novel? Or is conciseness a rule every fiction writer should follow (with no exceptions)?
(Most of the time I try to write like I talk. Some say it's a good approach, specially for beginners. But that won't produce very concise sentences, since people ramble a lot while they speak.)