
Good writing is lean, clean, and easy to read - mese848
https://medium.com/swlh/write-to-express-not-to-impress-465d628f39fe
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splittingTimes
Great read. Another resources that helped me was George Orwell's essay [1].

I think the following rules will cover most cases:

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

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

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

4\. Never use the passive where you can use the active.

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

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

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[1]
[https://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_poli...](https://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit)

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smacktoward
I'm surprised to see no mention of the classic style guide by William Strunk
and E.B. White, _The Elements of Style_
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Style](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Style)),
here. Mostly because its best-known rule is Strunk's famous admonition: "Omit
needless words."

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neilwilson
I shall add my favourite bugbear to this wise list

Don’t reach out; contact.

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RealDinosaur
I agree, especially for signage.

Although don't most university's encourage the opposite?

Also short comments seem unconstructive online.

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pranaygp
This is great! I read this immediately after writing and sharing a blog post
on HN

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sunstone
Tell that to Arundhati Roy.

