{"id":14588,"date":"2011-08-31T22:10:58","date_gmt":"2011-09-01T03:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=14588"},"modified":"2011-08-31T22:10:58","modified_gmt":"2011-09-01T03:10:58","slug":"george-orwell-on-writing-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2011\/08\/george-orwell-on-writing-well\/","title":{"rendered":"George Orwell on Writing Well"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>George Orwell\u2019s Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/em> and Animal Farm<\/em> are familiar reading for many of us. A few years ago a student suggested I also read his essays, and in particular, \u201cPolitics and the English Language.\u201d George Orwell, A Collection of Essays<\/em> 156-71 (10th ed. 1981).<\/p>\n

In this essay, Orwell claims that the English language is in decline, and that the decline has \u201cpolitical and economic causes.\u201d (156) Orwell asserts, however, that the \u201cbad habits\u201d in written English can be avoided. (157) He reasons that in getting rid of these habits, \u201cone can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration: so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers.\u201d (157)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Orwell criticizes writing that is imprecise, stale, and lacks imagery. (158) He also criticizes writers for \u201cgumming together\u201d meaningless phrases. (164) For instance, Orwell prefers \u201cI think\u201d to \u201cin my opinion it is not an unjustifiable assumption that.\u201d (164) Using stale metaphors saves \u201cmental effort,\u201d but produces \u201cvague\u201d meaning for both the reader and the writer. (164)<\/p>\n

Orwell claims that the language decay can be cured by taking \u201cconscious action.\u201d (169) He recommends the following six basic rules:<\/p>\n

1. \u201cNever use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. \u201cNever use a long word where a short one will do.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. \u201cIf it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. \u201cNever use the passive where you can use the active.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. \u201cNever use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.\u201d<\/p>\n

6. \u201cBreak any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.\u201d (170)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Professor Judith D. Fischer examines Orwell\u2019s impact on legal writing in her article, Why George Orwell’s Ideas about Writing Still Matter for Lawyers<\/em>, 68 Mont. L. Rev. 129 (2007). Professor Fischer describes how Orwell\u2019s commentary on writing propelled the plain English movement and how Orwell\u2019s six rules have influenced modern legal writers. (134-35)<\/p>\n

Orwell\u2019s comments on modern political writing struck a cord with me. His description of bad political writing reminds me of bad legal writing. I think the similarity exists because political writing, like most legal writing, is designed to persuade. The phrases that Orwell points out as particularly troubling are the same types of meaningless strung-together phrases found in bad legal writing. Nominalizations and passive voice would be at the top of my bad legal writing list.<\/p>\n

A nominalization is when a verb, adjective, or adverb is used as a noun. For example, \u201cher justification for being late was that the traffic was bad.\u201d Justification is the nominalization in this sentence. The verb \u201cto justify\u201d is turned into a noun by adding \u201cion.\u201d A writer can do an easy check for nominalizations by searching for \u201cion\u201d words in a draft. This example could be strengthened by editing: \u201cshe justified being late by saying the traffic was bad.\u201d The sentence is shorter, and the connection between the noun and verb is more evident in \u201cshe justified\u201d. The verb \u201cjustified\u201d also packs more impact than the verb \u201cwas.\u201d The second sentence introduces the word \u201csaying\u201d, which adds more detail to the sentence.<\/p>\n

In the active voice, the subject of the sentence comes first, then the verb, and then the object of the verb. For example, \u201cthe judge overruled the objection\u201d is in the active voice. The same sentence in the passive voice is \u201cthe objection was overruled by the judge.\u201d In the passive voice, the object of the verb comes first, then the verb, and then the subject. The passive voice can be effective when used to soften an action or tone. Generally, though, using the active voice will eliminate nominalizations and create a close connection between the noun and the verb.<\/p>\n

In his essay, \u201cWhy I Write,\u201d Orwell reflects that \u201cone can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one\u2019s own personality. Good prose is like a window pane.\u201d (316) Good, plain legal writing allows a reader to concentrate on the legal subject at hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George Orwell\u2019s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm are familiar reading for many of us. A few years ago a student suggested I also read his essays, and in particular, \u201cPolitics and the English Language.\u201d George Orwell, A Collection of Essays 156-71 (10th ed. 1981). In this essay, Orwell claims that the English language is in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-writing","category-public","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}