George Orwell Quotes

You know that I write slowly. This is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far more time than writing at length.

Omit needless words.

The best advice on writing I've ever received was from William Zinsser: 'Be grateful for every word you can cut.'

I think in most cases, unless you're writing about a character who is garrulous, you say what you've got to say and then get out. Those little conjunctions, those little turnaround words help you do it. That's the way I like to write: I get rid of things rather than add them.

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

Be prepared to fall out of love with your words. I'm still too verbose at times.

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

Anyone can make an article longer; the skill is keeping it tight and lean.

I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

Through an arbitrary problem, I had arrived at a tenet of good writing: brevity wins.

Use no superfluous word, no adjective, which does not reveal something.

Use half as many words and they'll hit twice as hard.

The lessons learned in journalism also apply. Writing for NPR has taught me to cut a piece in half and then in half again - without losing the essence. Apply that to the swollen prose of a bulky novel and you might reveal a beautiful work.

The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.

One great aim of revision is to cut out. In the exuberance of composition it is natural to throw in - as one does in speaking - a number of small words that add nothing to meaning but keep up the flow and rhythm of thought. In writing, not only does this surplusage not add to meaning, it subtracts from it. Read and revise, reread and revise, keeping reading and revising until your text seems adequate to your thought.

I confess to wincing every so often at a poorly chosen word, a mangled sentence, an expression of emotion that seems indulgent or overly practiced. I have the urge to cut the book by fifty pages or so, possessed as I am with a keener appreciation for brevity.

Writing for me is cutting out the fat and getting to the meaning.

I'm fighting against the bad poet who is prone to using too many words.

Less really is more. It's a tendency of beginning writers to want to prove what they're talking about by going too far with description. I think you've got to keep it short, crisp and clean.

Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction.

You know what writers say about their long books: If I had another year, the book would be half as long.

Simple and to the point is always the best way to get your point across.

Easy reading is damn hard writing.

For each detail I include, I throw dozens away. So I guess the first trick is to pick the right details, the most revealing details. Then I think one must simply write quick, clean, bright prose. For me, this means rewriting and rewriting: almost never adding, almost always cutting.

I've simplified much more in my writing. I say what I've got to say, not in metaphor.