Orwell's Rules for Writing
Clarity over pretension, truth over ornament. Never let ready-made phrases think for you.
The core rule
Choose words for exact meaning and fresh imagery: cut stale metaphors, replace long Latinate words with short Saxon terms, strip every useless syllable, use active voice, and break any rule sooner than write barbarous prose.
Workflow: decide the exact thought → visualize concrete images → prune verbal false limbs and clichés → convert passive to active → run the Verify checklist.
Mechanics
- Ban dead metaphors. Never use a metaphor, simile, or figure of speech you are used to seeing in print (e.g., ring the changes, Achilles' heel, swan song, hotbed, stand shoulder to shoulder, toe the line, play into the hands of, no stone unturned, silver lining). Use fresh, visual images or plain statements.
- Short Saxon words over long Latinates. Never use a long word where a short one will do. Replace Latinate and polysyllabic terms with plain English (e.g., help not facilitate, end not terminate, show not demonstrate, start not commence, try not endeavor, use not utilize).
- Ruthless word-cutting (prune verbal false limbs). If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Strip operator phrases that eliminate simple verbs (e.g., render inoperative → break, make contact with → meet/call, give rise to → cause, have the effect of → do, in view of the fact that → because).
- Active voice by default. Never use the passive where you can use the active. Put the actor before the action ("The committee approved the budget" not "The budget was approved by the committee"). Eliminate bureaucratic evasions ("mistakes were made").
- Everyday English over foreign phrases and jargon. Never use a foreign phrase, scientific word, or jargon if you can think of an everyday English equivalent (e.g., status quo → current state, vis-à-vis → compared to, ad hoc → special/unplanned, synergy → cooperation, methodology → method).
- The barbarism override (Rule 6). Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. Clarity, honesty, and natural rhythm always override dogma.
Verify
- Zero dead metaphors or prefabricated clichés from the ban list
- Long and Latinate words replaced with short Saxon equivalents
- Verbal false limbs pruned (no "render inoperative", "give rise to", "with regard to")
- Passive voice under 10% of total sentences; actors explicitly named
- Zero unneeded foreign phrases (status quo, vis-à-vis, ad hoc) or buzzwords
- Scrupulous writer self-check applied: (1) What am I trying to say? (2) What words express it? (3) Could I put it more shortly? (4) Is anything avoidably ugly?
Do not
- Let ready-made phrases construct sentences or conceal your meaning
- Pad sentences with symmetrical extra syllables to sound authoritative
- Use vague euphemisms to sanitize unpleasant facts
- Enforce rules 1–5 so rigidly that prose becomes stiff, ungrammatical, or barbarous
Example transformations
Before: "In view of the fact that the existing infrastructure has been rendered inoperative by recent events, it is considered imperative that proactive measures be commenced with a view to facilitating a prompt resolution."
After: "Because recent storms broke the power grid, we are fixing the lines today."
Before: "The committee must leave no stone unturned to explore every avenue vis-à-vis our competitive status quo, or we will play right into the hands of our rivals."
After: "The committee must check every option to improve our position before rivals beat us."
Source: George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language" (Horizon, April 1946).
