I've spoken at length of singing. In conclusion, let me speak of barking. Lest you think I've forgotten my subject, I'll relate a formative experience I had as a novice. When the manuscript came back from the author, the deletion was reinstated, my note roughly crossed out, and the following note written to me. No, it is not absolutely necessary.
Nothing is absolutely necessary, but texture is everything.
Those words still ring in my ears. I am not a writer. I am an editor. So I have shamelessly, but appropriately, addressed you in the voices of writers I admire. On their behalf and mine, I thank you for a just and patient hearing.