>Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
>Never use a long word where a short one will do.
>If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
>Never use the passive where you can use the active.
>Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
>Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Thoughts?
Why does everyone hate passive writing?
All spooks.
Who decides what everyday English is? My everyday English is full of jargon.
he wanted to communicate to the people. He succeeded, so good for him. If that's your goal its a good formula.
/thread
...
>English rules for writing
My holy keks, what a load of whaleshit. English is the shame of human culture.
He had a few good concepts, but he wasn't a good writer.
Because it means you are not assigning responsibility or blame for an action.
What do you mean? Why is the writer's 'responsibility' important? Sorry I'm confused
I'm thinking why I would listen to advice from someone whose prose was nothing stellar... oops, I mean "not very good"
Wow, you sure showed him.
He died! his death made no great stir on earth:
His burial made some pomp; there was profusion
Of velvet, gilding, brass, and no great dearth
Of aught but tears — save those shed by collusion.
For these things may be bought at their true worth;
Of elegy there was the due infusion —
Bought also; and the torches, cloaks, and banners,
Heralds, and relics of old Gothic manners,
>now again following "your" rules
He died, nobody cared,
His burial was fancy
The rest of this "poem" is "gibberish"
>Never use a long word where a short one will do
>writes a novel about how the reduction of language destroys humanity
What did he mean by this?
got eeem
>Never use a long word where a short one will do.
>If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
>Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent
Get fucked. I like words.
His essay on the use of the English Language specifically relates to journalism, instructions etc. He never for a moment meant for it to relate to poetry or literature. Just so everyone knows.
since when is george orwell a foremost authority on prose stylism
he's not, but his essays are nearly all fantastic. if you're writing for a "non-literary" audience you'd be hard pressed to find a better mentor.
not him, but compare these sentences.
1) Cain killed Abel.
2) Abel was killed by Cain.
3) Abel was killed.
The second and third sentences are written in passive. you can see that there's less "movement/action". They produce less impact than the first.
Also with passive voice you can remove responsibility (3).
Where's the responsibility in that? It's not up to the author to create impact, that's just a byproduct of someone's experience reading it.
what do you mean where's the responsibility in that?
Cain is responsible for killing Able.
Sentence 3 omits that responsibility; you don't know who killed him.
I agree that impact is the byproduct of someone's experience reading it but the author controls how that person experiences it. It's the same with music, art etc. Persuasive pieces are a good example too.
OP is a bundle of sticks.