George Orwell's Politics in the English Language did intrigue me. I figured that it would be extraordinarily boring. I mean a six page essay to read when I had dance and drama and who knows what else? Actually, it was really very imformative and beyond that, entertaining. I was surprised. Orwell talked about the decline of the English language throughout the years. He basically said that we jumble words up and use phrases that do not even make sense anymore. I never really thought of language that way, but I realised that what I thought was good writing turned out to be meaningless slop. I always thought that when I wrote papers with all of those fancy words that it sounded a little off. Orwell showed me why. And of course all of my teachers squawked at me for years telling me to stay away from cliches,but Politics in the English Language actually explained to me why I should avoid using cliches. I realised that they really do not make sense most of the time. They are just fillers. I am the queen of fillers. I'm so glad I read this essay because had I not, my writing would have continued to be slightly terrible and I would not have ever known why. *backspace I would never have known why.* Orwell has really made me think of my writing, and I plan on taking all of his advice to heart and cheating my way into college by using his tactics on all of my essays for both high school, college applications, and of course for use in the actual college that I attend.
haha! cheating your way in--Orwell is a good model to follow, for sure. And you might like to read Stephen King's On Writing--it is surprising relaxed for a horror writer. Most people do not realize how good he is, because he makes it look so easy. when I get a King book, it is almost like eating the words, they are so smooth...
ReplyDeleteOh, I was commenting for a reason--I do not think you or anyone else uses "fillers" unless they are not sure what they want to say. Once you know what you will say, the fillers disappear (see your Help post for example). So, to me, the tough part of writing is the part before you write. That's when the hard work gets done, the part that no one sees because you leave it off the page.