Orwell's (abbreviated) advice to writers

George Orwell plaque in Hampstead

ceridwen [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The New Republic recently reposted to its web site an essay by George Orwell on bad writing, first published in 1946. But as Jack Limpert discovered, both versions were chopped by 40%: "So, we might ask those New Republic editors of 1946, did the magazine’s publisher say, as publishers are known to do, 'The stories are too damn long' and the editors then simply ended the Orwell essay at 3,000 words, chopping off the last 2,000 words and some of the best parts?"

October 12, 2014

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