You don't need me to tell you that writing can be a frustrating affair. The English language gives us more than half-a-million words to work with. Yet consider how often we find ourselves straining to find the right words to express our thoughts. As George Orwell once asked, "Is there anyone who has ever written so much as a love letter in which he felt that he had said exactly what he intended?"
Some might be surprised to hear a wordsmith such as Orwell talking about the inherent limitations of language. After all, the author of 1984 and several classic essays is famous for his taut, lucid style. If anybody could make writing look easy, surely it was George Orwell.
For the complete article, go to George Orwell's Rules for Writers.
Image: George Orwell (Eric Blair), 1903-1950.
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