Here are 6 Rules of Writing by George Orwell That You Should Never Forget

George Orwell is one those writers that lurk in the background and still manage to influence the readers through their simple writing style. He came into prominence and established himself among the finer writers of his time through novels like Down and Out in Paris and London, and Animal Farm – Essays like Shooting an Elephant, and Politics and English Language that were published way before his novels only helped his cause and created a platform him to thrive on.

Most of us who have read his work know him from his 1964 essay which he wrote on the condition of English Literature and how that is the primary reason of confusion and lack of imagery in the society. According to the acclaimed writer, bad writing can and will eventually lead to a thinking pattern that is corrupt in more ways than we can care to imagine.

The language that is used in today’s media and interviews is extremely favorable to the political structure of the world. It makes even the most terrible ideas and thing look soft and worth neglecting – wordplay is a dangerous thing and you should pay attention of every single word you read and how it is framed.

The effects of a sentence or even a phrase can be confusing, but if you know some of the rules stated by George Orwell about writing English literature then things can a bit simpler, for both writing and reading. 

The six rules penned down by him are:

·         Never use a long word where a short one will do.

·         Never use the passive where you can use the active.

·         Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

·         Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

·         If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

·         Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Even after decades of change in literature, these rules still stand firm and actually make things easier for both, the writer and the reader. If you are avoiding using clichés in your writing a writers like Nirmal Singh Lotus Green do then it will make your work not only pleasant to read but will also indulge the reader – he will wait for something new, something he hasn’t read before.