Nobody has mentioned 'length' of anything. You're taking comparisons and treating them in isolation.
began
- Thread starter tko
- Start date
Only use 'began' if it is important to really focus on the start of the action beyond just the action itself.
Most of the time a sentence is stronger w/o 'began'. It is one of those words that a writer should use with thought. Kind of like 'that'. You would be surprised how often neither are necessary to the sentence.