Orwell Rules for Writers

Orwell's Rules

I am truly sorry some of you did not enjoy reading the piece; yes, his language and many of his examples are archaic. But his warning “if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought” is as relevant today as it was in 1946. When our politicians use language such as “job creators” instead of wealthy or rich, or they talk about “family values” as if we all shared the same definition of family values. Well, the examples are endless. It is us, you and me, that have to stand up to this type of double speak. It is us, you and me, who must force our politicians to mean what the say and say what they mean and not hide behind meaningless words.

I have been teaching this essay for the past fifteen years, and I am still amazed at how relevant and useful his advice for writers is. By following his writing advice we can write better, more complex, more complicated arguments. We can express our critical thinking well, clearly, and directly. At the heart of his essay lies the advice: be precise. “… let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. The worst thing one can with words is surrender to them.” Use precise verbs, what John Trimble calls “vigorous verbs.” In other words use the active voice (unless you have a damn good reason to use the passive, which sometimes you do), avoid as much as possible using the verb “to be,” and avoid two-word verb like cut down, pull up, etc.

He also exhorts us to always cut a word out if we can. He wants us to be concise. However, here is where he is often misunderstood. Yes, he does want us to write simply and directly. But that does not mean everything we write should be short and simplistic. As I have written elsewhere:

Simple and direct. Many of us have been exposed[1] to the idea that effective writing is simple and direct—advice associated with Strunk and White’s legendary guidebook The
Elements of Style. Many students of this text remember their famous advice
“Omit needless words” which Strunk and White argue leads to simple and direct writing. However, what most forget  is the all-important qualifier to that slogan: “This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or that he [sic] avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell” (emphasis added). “Omit needless words” is great advice, but not when it gets reduced to the belief that shorter is always better, or that needless means any word without which the sentence can still make sense. In other words, simple and direct does not mean simplistic and short.

We will continue to refer to Orwell’s ideas throughout the semester. So, if you have the time, read it again.

[1] I have used the passive voice on purpose.