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You're probably sick of the same stale writing advice.

I got good and bad news.

The Bad News

Always start with the bad news.

The internet is infested with writing “gurus” who prey on new writers, selling the same recycled courses that promise a precise and profitable pen but only deliver confusion and disappointment. The best of them might teach you how to write clickbaity headlines, build sketchy marketing funnels, and use chatGPT to "10x your productivity," but none of them will actually help you unf*ck your writing.

These courses aren’t writing courses. They are marketing courses for writers. Their focus is on marketing tactics, not on the craft itself.

The Good News

Despite most “writing” courses being a waste of money there is a wealth of FREE, GOOD writing advice.

Why? Because good writing advice doesn’t sell.

Good writing advice is free.

If you want to become a good writer, sit down and write until you turn into a raisin.

That’s the best writing advice there is.

The second best is to learn from the greats. Most of them have generously left us their wisdom on the craft in the shape of stories, letters, essays, journal entries, and notes.

So, if you want to craft better sentences, study the best pens.

And one of the best to ever do it is Mr. Nineteen Eighty-Four himself.

Politics and the English Language

In his 1946 essay, “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell, with surgical precision, diagnoses the sickness plaguing modern prose: lazy thinking.

The type of thinking that makes shitty writing courses so easy to market.

Orwell writes, "A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts."

Lazy thinking breeds sloppy writing, and sloppy writing breeds lazy thinking—a vicious cycle that will go on until there’s nothing left to write about or you finally decide you’ve had enough.

"Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble."

This is how Orwell suggests you sharpen your pen.

Or, in more colloquial terms …

Be Clear

Vague writing is weak writing. Confident prose is a byproduct of a precise pen and a clear mind.

"The writer either has a meaning and cannot express it, or he inadvertently says something else, or he is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not. This mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetence is the most marked characteristic of modern English prose."

Good writing is clear.

Be Creative

If your writing isn't clear, it isn't creative. And if it isn't creative, it isn't clear.

"A newly invented metaphor assists thought by evoking a visual image, while on the other hand a metaphor which is technically ‘dead’ (e.g., iron resolution) has in effect reverted to being an ordinary word and can generally be used without loss of vividness. But in between these two classes there is a huge dump of worn-out metaphors which have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves."

Flex your creative muscles.

"By using stale metaphors, similes and idioms, you save much mental effort, at the cost of leaving your meaning vague, not only for your reader but for yourself."

That doesn't mean you go wild. Creativity needs boundaries to thrive.

Be Concise

Good writing is clear. Great writing is concise.

What’s wrong with the sentence below?

“The general consensus of opinion is that in the majority of instances, people tend to agree with the proposed idea.”

It’s fluff.

Here’s a better version:

“Most people agree with the idea.”

In just six words, I said the same thing, and I didn’t lose you.

Don’t waste your reader’s time. As Orwell said, “If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.”

Kill your darlings. Write actively. Choose the right words.

And if that isn’t enough to turn you into a decent scribbler, Orwell concludes his lecture with a handy checklist.

4 Questions Great Writers Ask Themselves

Orwell writes, "A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions..."

1. What am I trying to say?

2. What words will express it?

3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?

4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

Figure out what you want to say and say it.

If writing is thinking on paper and clear writing is hard, then clear thinking is hard.

So, to clear things up, Orwell adds, "And he will probably ask himself two more: Could I put it more shortly? Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?"

The answer is probably “probably.”

In a world where content is mass-produced, Orwell reminds us good sentences aren't written—they're crafted.

When you move your pen more intentionally, you think more clearly, write more honestly, and touch more people.

—Santi

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