I recently and quite accidentally signed myself up to work with A-Level students as part of my part-time, choose-your-own-hours job. I'm not sure how it happened, but I am EXHAUSTED. And I haven't even started yet, yesterday was a sort of practice with Psychology students. Please don't ask how I managed to get into that when I'm an English Lit undergrad. There isn't a lot I do know about myself these days. I'm just rolling with it.
Anyway since yes, I'm very tired, here are six things George Orwell wrote in a text I had to read for a class this week. I thought it was all very applicable to my writing.
i. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
iii. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
iv. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
v. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
vi. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
-George Orwell
No comments:
Post a Comment