George Orwell’s writing advice is amazingly instructive when it comes to writing with clarity.

He knew that bad writing reflects vague thinking, and had 6 essential rules for clear and honest prose:

1. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out

Bad writers pile on extra clauses, repeat themselves, and pad sentences with unnecessary phrasing. If a word isn’t doing useful work, delete it.

The goal isn’t to strip language bare, but to tighten it so that every word pulls its weight. Phrases like “in order to,” “due to the fact that,” or “at this point in time” can almost always be trimmed.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do

Big words may look impressive, but they often serve the writer’s ego more than the reader’s needs. Terms like “utilize,” “commence,” or “ameliorate” are usually chosen not because they’re clearer, but because they sound more important. 

Resist this impulse. The point of writing is not to show off your vocabulary, but to communicate your ideas in the most direct way possible.

3. Never use the passive where you can use the active

Passive voice weakens writing by hiding the subject and softening the action. “The window was broken” tells you what happened, but not who did it. “He broke the window” is more direct, and more honest.

Orwell saw this as more than a stylistic issue. In political language, passive constructions are used to deflect responsibility: “mistakes were made” admits something went wrong, but avoids naming the person responsible.

4. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent

Technical language, foreign phrases, and insider jargon often masquerade as sophistication. Writers who lean on these are trying to signal authority, but the real effect on the reader is alienation.

Always choose the word your audience understands without hesitation. Terms like “ameliorate,” “quid pro quo,” and “pièce de résistance” all have simpler, clearer substitutes. Writing in plain English is not a limitation, but a virtue.

5. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print

At first glance, clichés seem helpful because they feel familiar. Phrases like “Achilles’ heel”, “grasping at straws”, and “walking on eggshells” illustrate what you mean, and are convenient to fall back on.

But clichés replace original thought. They outsource the writer’s creative process to what Orwell called “dying metaphors” — phrases that once evoked something vivid, but are now unremarkable.

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous

Don’t follow these rules blindly. If strict adherence to any one of them leads to confusion or awkwardness, then it’s better to break it.

Writing should always aim to make the truth more visible — if a rule gets in the way of that, discard it. Honesty and precision matter more than any rhetorical convention.