The art of persuasive writing is one of the fundamental skills for corporate success. This requires clarity of thought and the ability to weave these thoughts into a message that can be comprehended correctly and easily by the audience. This article discusses the six fundamental rules for writing expounded by George Orwell in his essay Politics and the English language published in 1946.
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Metaphors and similes elucidate a subject by comparing it with another seemingly unrelated subject and attributing the qualities of the second to the first. For example in the metaphor “sleeping like the dead”, the qualities of ‘dead' are attributed to ‘sleep'. However, so long as metaphors are fresh, they lend interest and colour by evoking a visual image. But they lose their edge and sheen, often degenerating into clichés through repetitive use. For example, the following metaphors have lost their cutting edge through overuse: “She's the apple of my eye” and “Nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof.”
The freshness of a metaphor is, however, determined by the audience and the circumstance. While a metaphor may work well in a particular situation or for a particular audience, it may seem irksome and dull in another.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
Keep the language simple, clear and easy to understand. For instance, prefer start to commence; make changes to implement changes; use to utilise; let to permit; show to demonstrate; and about to approximately. Here again, one needs to use one's discretion and select words that contribute to clarity of expression in accordance with the audience profile.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Often, expressions are plagued with words that do not lend themselves to describing an idea. These words quietly creep in without adding any value. They are superfluous and constitute the verbal flab, creating ambiguity and distracting attention from the main idea. Here are some examples of ‘flabby' words that are best done away with.
Cut out the flab
“I'm surprised by the fact that the report is incomplete” can be changed to “I'm surprised that the report is incomplete” without any loss of meaning.
“Despite the fact that” can be replaced by “Although”.
“In my opinion it is not an unjustifiable assumption that” can be cleared of flab by simply replacing it with “I think”.
Rudyard Kipling, after completing a story, would “let it drain” for a month and then look at the manuscript again with fresh eyes. He would question the presence of each word or phrase to check whether it played a role in voicing the idea, cutting out the unnecessary words. The crux of persuasive writing lies in clarity of thought, coupled with the right words used as economically as possible.
Never use the passive where you can use the active
“Annie typed the letter” (active)
“The letter was typed by Annie” (passive)
In the passive voice the receiver of the action (letter) becomes the subject and the actor (Annie) is relegated to a prepositional position after the verb.
The passive voice is less conversational and does not read naturally. For example: “I need water” (active)
“Water is needed by me” (passive) does not sound natural.
Passive voice is definitely inefficient as it is spendthrift with words. In the above examples, the word count of the passive voice is 30-40 per cent less efficient compared to the active voice.
Avoid jargon
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent
Jargon is the technical vocabulary of a profession or a group. E.g. words such as sprocket, crankshaft and centrifuge relate to the engineering field and megabyte, serial port and download to the field of computers. The use of such words within the group works well as they act like ‘shorthand,' averting the need for lengthy explanations. However, outside the group, such words are deemed as ‘jargon'. The use of jargon in the presence of a heterogeneous audience is inappropriate as it impedes communication.
For instance, “Chlorophyll makes food by photosynthesis” may not be understood by many. But “Green leaves make food in the presence of sun” would appeal to the layman.
Over a period of time, some jargon words creep into and get integrated with the mainstream language, at which point they cease to be jargon. A case in point is ‘ball park' and ‘touch base' both borrowed from the game of baseball and now commonly used in day-to-day communication.
It is sometimes considered fashionable to use foreign words even when an equivalent English word is available. Example: “Her presence was the sine qua non of every family event,” instead of “Her presence was considered essential for every family event.”
“Government's policy of reservation is the bete noire of the educated class,” instead of “Government's policy of reservation is strongly disliked by the educated class.”
Certain foreign words such as ceteris paribus , per se andstatus quo have been assimilated in the English language to the extent that they are no longer considered foreign. However, at times the use of these words is ornamental which does nothing but add flab and ambiguity to the language, defeating the purpose of communication.
These seemingly simple rules can go a long way in improving communication. They can help us remove ambiguity by doing away with the twists and turns that overly used metaphors, unnecessary words, jargon, foreign and pompous words introduce in the language.
However, it must be remembered that what is jargon to one is simple and natural to another, a cliché in one environment may be a fresh and meaningful expression in another, a long and pompous word may be natural in another context.
These rules are, therefore, simply guidelines to be used at the discretion of the communicator. This brings us to the last rule propounded by George Orwell — Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
( The writer is Vice-President, Learning and Development, with an investment bank. The views presented here are personal.)