it

   Sentences that begin with it are almost always worth a second look. Oftentimes an anticipatory or "dummy" it is unobjectionable ("It seems to me," "It began to rain," "It is widely believed that"), but just as often it is no more than a sign of careless or tedious writing, as here: "It was Mr. Bechtel who was the more peripatetic of the two. ... It was under his direction that the annual reports began" (New York Times). Both sentences would be shorter and more forceful if "It was" and the relative pronouns (respectively who and that) were removed, making them "Mr. Bechtel was the more peripatetic of the two" and "Under his direction the annual reports began."