George Orwell's Rules of Writing
One of my favorite authors is Eric Arthur Blair, known by his pen name, George Orwell.
His writings inspire thought and discussion. By incorporating symbolism, he reaches out to readers who might be bored with straight prose.
Two of his most infamous writings are Animal Farm, and 1984.
Both were required reading when I was in school and I had my own children read them as part of our homeschooling adventures, too. No matter what your political beliefs might be, these two books created some fascinating discussions.
Like many writers, Orwell's writings reflected the time in which he lived (1903-1950). He was politically motivated, and his novels, poetry, and nonfiction prose represented his strong feelings.
However, he set politics aside for some writings, including his 1946 essay entitled Politics and the English Language. His teaching career and desire for excellence in writing was quite evident
In this essay, he listed 5 rules writers should follow. I've taken these from LifeHack.org.
- 1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Orwell's work lives on today and continues to be included in many curriculums.
Mark Twain offered similar advice in a bit more Twain-like lingo.
“Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”
― Mark Twain
Imagine if we included these rules when we write our blog posts!
Recent Comments
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I like George Orwell as a political satirist that he is but when it comes to prescriptions for English Language, he should leave it to English Language scholars.
. For instance, what's wrong with my using a metaphor or simile that had been used in a different context if it serves my purpose?
What if the long word is the most appropriate to use in the context? So I should discard it because it is long.
I agree there are times when a metaphor or simile is quite useful. And yes, sometimes a longer or perhaps less common word just works better. I think what Orwell was addressing was the flowery journalism that he saw some using, just for the sake of impressing.
Balance, is the right term, I suppose.
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For those who might be interested in reading some of Orwell's writings, I just ran across this on Amazon Kindle:
George Orwell. The Complete Works (Illustrated):
Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Memoirs, Down and Out in Paris and London
by George Orwell
Kindle
$1.99 (USA) £0.99 (UK)
"Darn affordable", I'd say (my Twain-like comment; not Amazon's)
The expanded notes list all of these works which, from the title "Complete Works", I'm guessing are all included:
THE NOVELS
BURMESE DAYS
A CLERGYMAN'S DAUGHTER
KEEP THE ASPIDISTRA FLYING
COMING UP FOR AIR
ANIMAL FARM
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
THE MEMOIRS
DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON
THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER
HOMAGE TO CATALONIA
THE POETRY OF GEORGE ORWELL
THE NON-FICTION
BOOK REVIEWS
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
2653 pages (Kindle pages, that is)
That is certainly tempting!
LOL!!