Orwell’s onto something

At the suggestion of a friend that happens to work as a copywriter, I read George Orwell’s essay, “Politics & English Language.” Then I read through it a few more times, just to make sure I was judging myself harshly enough.

It’s clear that Orwell is not tooling around on the topic of poorly constructed writing of any variety. I wouldn’t say Orwell attacks the prose-prone writer so much as addresses the shortcomings of his pretty words. It made me feel a bit better about my own writing in comparison to some of my wordier internet brethren—for a minute, at least. I suggest anyone who feels like a writer read through the essay and let me know how much of what you’ve put out there for others to read was loaded with overblown filler words and/or sentences. I’m as guilty as anyone, though certainly not as guilty as some.

Read it here & then get back to me. I want to know who else is second-guessing the education they received, not to mention every five paragraph essay written and turned into an educational establishment of any level. (Yes, this does tie back into the thought process behind this post.)

April 11, 2011 – 7:00 pm | By Julene | Posted in General | Tagged , , , | View Comments
  • Phydeau

    While I’m a big proponent of learning proper English (and I’m talking about grammar and spelling, not attacking internet shorthand), I’m also big on knowing HOW to break the rules.
    It’s a matter of knowing your audience. There is an often quoted phrase, questionably attributed to Winston Churchill, that reads, in variations, “Not ending a sentence with a preposition is a bit of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.”
    One could add to that, “Eschew obfuscation”. ;)

    Just make your point. But don’t butcher the language in the process. In fact, be as succinct as possible, but also know the definition of “succinct”.

    In the above paragraph, I used the second person to make my point. That’s because it would seem artificial to say, “One should always strive to simply make one’s point.” But I also didn’t say, “Just say y’all’s shit, yo!”

  • Clarence

    I read that essay at 14 or 15 and never forgot it.

    You are on the right track to being a successful, yet succinct, writer.

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