Good advice from George Orwell in his Politics and the English Language first published in 1946:
- 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.
nice
and useful
It’s #3… #3 is my downfall. In my next life, I will be a natural redhead, always sing in tune, and be able to write concisely with words that always hit in the reader right in the gut. (Or the heart, or the head–depending on where I am aiming.)