George Orwell is perhaps best known for 1984, his scathing indictment of totalitarianism. Just two months before its publishing in 1949, he published an equally biting essay about the English language.

The essay, “Politics and the English Language,” has been widely read since its publication, and for good reason. In it, Orwell eviscerates the state of language in general, but especially when it comes to politics.

His basic concern is the vagueness of modern speaking and writing, and how that obscurity shapes the public. Words, after all, have power, as he wrote in 1984: “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”

Though some words have the power to corrupt one’s thinking, others can cleanse one’s thinking. The right words can purify the thoughts. Then those right thoughts train the mind to discern what is good (see Rom. 12:2).

Barriers to Precise Writing

Two of the biggest barriers to writing that purifies readers’ minds are the same two Orwell bemoans in the political writing of his day: staleness of imagery and lack of precision. “The writer either has a meaning and cannot express it,” Orwell laments, “or he inadvertently says something else, or he is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not.”

When we’re trying to express the mysteries of God, we sometimes lack the words to express divine realities and unwittingly say something else entirely. Hopefully we aren’t indifferent to the meaning of our words, but this too can creep in when we’re on a deadline or struggling to find something to write about.

So how can we avoid falling into these traps?

Six Questions to Ask Yourself about Each Sentence

Fortunately, Orwell wrote six questions writers should ask themselves about each sentence they write:

• What am I trying to say?

• What words will express it?

• What image or idiom will make it clearer?

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