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Author: Sunitha Anupkumar
“Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.” said the great English critic John Ruskin. This is exactly the premise of the Plain English Movement which emphasizes clarity, brevity and simplicity in communication. A good piece of writing is one that is unambiguous, and is understood the first time you read it. So does this mean, plain English is dull and lack luster? Certainly not! Let’s take a look at eminent writers who have endorsed plain English and campaigned for its cause through their literary work.
George Orwell – one of the earliest supporters
In the year 1946, George Orwell, wrote the famous essay “Politics and the English Language” where he criticized the “contemporary written English” as being “ugly and inaccurate”. Orwell believed that this kind of writing tends to hide rather than showcase the truth. He argued that writers fall victim to bad writing habits as a result of imitation. The need to sound sophisticated turns out to be a bane for most writers. But all is not lost. Orwell concludes the essay with his “Remedy of Six Rules” (I covered this is my earlier post) as an effective antidote.
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Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway’s support
Writing in plain English is considered a far more difficult job than falling prey to gobbledygook. The famous anecdote of Mark Twain where he apologized for the length of some piece of correspondence saying he didn’t find time to write a shorter letter so he wrote a longer one, stands a testimony to the amount effort that goes into simplistic writing. No wonder then that his work “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is considered the “Great American Novel”. Ernest Hemmingway had this to say of this book “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Do we need any further argument for Plain English now?
Ernest Hemingway’s writing style too is governed by what he likes to call the “iceberg theory”, more popularly known as the “theory of omission”. This can be explain in his own words thus “The test of any story is how very good the stuff that you, not your editors, omit.”
E B White’s Writing Guide
E B White an American writer who wrote popular children’s books like “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little” has also co-authored a book “The Elements of Style” an American English writing style guide. This book more commonly referred to as ”Strunk and White” provides guidelines on the usage of simple English in the principles of composition. A list of words commonly misused or misspelt is also provided in this writing guide. Pointers such as keeping the sentences short, use of active voice, omission of needless or redundant words, help a newbie writer in fine-tuning his or her piece of writing.
Churchill’s battle in support of PE
Not only writers but politicians and world leaders also believed in popularizing and spreading the word on the usage of plain English. Winston Churchill, who served two terms as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was also instrumental in bringing out laws to abolish legalese and gobbledygook in the government’s official communication. He was an eminent writer himself.
So, plain English need not be plain after all, as is evident from the masterpieces churned out by these writers. As aspiring writers, let us all strive to follow the footprints of those who paved way for plain language writing. So, shorten a sentence here, chuck out the cliché there and when in doubt, pick up Adventures of Tom Sawyer and rest assured that you are on the right path!
About the Author
Sunitha Anupkumar, a voracious reader herself, is an aspiring writer currently working with a leading multinational software company in Chennai. Armed with a post graduate degree in Physics from IIT-Madras, years of corporate experience and a passion for writing, she aims at working on projects that would involve technical writing, content writing and editing. She also has a keen interest in writing for children, book reviews and blogging.
Related posts:
- Origin of the Plain English Movement
- Does Plain English Kill Creativity?
- Plain English Writing Tip – Use Active Voice and Action Verbs
- Using Plain English – Simplify Your Writing Style
- Tips to Write in Plain English
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