13 ms·
Two invaluable guides to clear, unfussy English, one short and one long: * George Orwell's essay 'Politics and the English Language' [0], which includes his si
by dghf 6y ago
Two invaluable guides to clear, unfussy English, one short and one long:
* George Orwell's essay 'Politics and the English Language' [0], which includes his six rules for writing
* Sir Ernest Gowers' The Complete Plain Words [1], originally a style guide for the notoriously prolix British Civil Service, in which he offers this memo from the ancient Egyptian ministry of finance as a paragon:
> Appollonius to Zeno, greeting. You did right to send the chickpeas to Memphis. Farewell.
[0] https://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit https://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_poli...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Complete_Plain_Words https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Complete_Plain_Words
- ChrisMarshallNY 6y agoOne writing rule that I often see, is “don’t use cliché phrasing/terminology.” I don’t like “hard and fast” rules, in general. I prefer a more “heuristic” approach. This rule, in particular, sticks in my craw, because, as a former art teacher once told me: ”Things are cliché for a reason.” I write about that here (but for design): https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/the-road-most-traveled-by-9a66249bbfd6 https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/the-road-most-traveled-by...