George Orwell, as Scott Burgess demonstrated this week, was a great writer.  When he wrote he followed rules, the most important being:

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.

These are not new to me.  I first read them in 1990 in the introduction to the Economist Style Guide.  Ever since I have tried my best to follow them.  Sometimes I have succeeded.

The rules are found in this essay from 1945 (warning: reading someone pointing out that you can’t write hurts).  What strikes me about Orwell’s writing is how up-to-date and clear it is.  It is 60 years old and it still feels fresh.  The rules work. 

Update The above took me about an hour to write.  Writing good English (and I am not claiming it is) is hard work.