Rules For Writers
I just happened upon an essay by George Orwell entitled “Politics and the English Language”.
In it he puts forth six rules for writing:
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Good advice, but I have a feeling it might be surprisingly hard to consistently follow all of them.