Writers use “not only” to vary their writing but it can be wordy. It also brings in a negative tone with the word “not.” See how much more direct the second instances are compared to the first. In the first example I am editing a writer that I work with, in the last two I am correcting Orwell. 🙂

If you’ve been waiting for months, it’s reasonable to check every few days. This is important not only so that you can alleviate your worries but also so that you are promptly aware of any potential obstacle delaying your claim.

If you’ve been waiting for months, it’s reasonable to check every few days. This helps alleviate your worries and promptly lets you know of any obstacle delaying your claim.

In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides.

There is no agreed definition of a word like democracy and any attempt to make one is resisted from all sides.

Words like romantic, plastic, values, human, dead, sentimental, natural, vitality , as used in art criticism, are strictly meaningless, in the sense that they not only do not point to any discoverable object, but are hardly ever expected to do so by the reader.

Words like romantic, plastic, values, human, dead, sentimental, natural, vitality, as used in art criticism, are strictly meaningless because they do not point to any discoverable object and are hardly ever expected to do so by the reader.