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Posts tagged "george orwell"
The Redacted series is a series of dystopian novels. The covers of the books mimic the look of photocopied documents that had been redacted all for except a few words, like this.
(via @zg512 & kitsune noir)
Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist or [sic] understand. For all one knows that demon is the same instinct that makes a baby squall for attention. And yet it is also true that one can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one’s personality.
—George Orwell, “Why I Write”
(via Eddie Campbell)
GEORGE ORWELL’S RULES OF WRITING
From Politics and the English Language:(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(ii) Never us a long word where a short one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
I try to re-read this essay at least every year.
Newspaper + Marker = Poetry. Pre-order it now for $10 on Amazon.com
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