Arrrgh, the whole "Repeating the same concept slightly differently" thing, and over-explaining... Something I've been wrestling with. In editing phase I'm getting pretty good at catching it, but man. I'm not sure how much is due to insecurity over whether something's clear enough, and how often it comes from writing some things over the course of several days, or out of order. (Thinking I need to get X detail into the scene, or that Y would make for some good description... forgetting that I'd already said basically the same thing earlier, and that's why it's in my head. :P)

I do think that ability to write a good story in the most streamlined way possible is such an encouraging sign of growth!