English writing style: Difference between revisions
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== George Orwell == | == George Orwell == | ||
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_and_the_English_Language "Politics and the English Language"] | |||
: 1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. | |||
: 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. | |||
: 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. | |||
: 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. | |||
: 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. | |||
: 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. | |||
== Murder Your Darlings == | |||
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Quiller-Couch Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch:] "Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it — whole-heartedly — and delete it before sending your manuscripts to press. Murder your darlings." | |||
Faulkner: "Kill your darlings." | |||
== William Safire == | |||
[http://www.listsofnote.com/2012/01/fumblerules-of-grammar.html "Fumblerules of Grammar"] | |||
[[Category:Editing]] | [[Category:Editing]] | ||
Latest revision as of 09:32, 15 November 2021
George Orwell
"Politics and the English Language"
- 1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Murder Your Darlings
Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch: "Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it — whole-heartedly — and delete it before sending your manuscripts to press. Murder your darlings."
Faulkner: "Kill your darlings."