Point 1 is not the worst point
Point 2 could be additionally descriptive
Point 3 -peaked- (piqued!) my interest
Point 4 was awesome
Point 5 should be universally implemented
ps. related: http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit
Point 2 could be additionally descriptive
Point 3 -peaked- (piqued!) my interest
Point 4 was awesome
Point 5 should be universally implemented
ps. related: http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit
At any rate, his previous point about there being no "right" or "wrong" language is something that is absolutely true. I think that's the most important point in the letter, which is outside his list of five points.
> Point 3 peaked my interest
The homonym you want here is pique[1]
[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pique definition 3
I think that, in my opinion at least, these instructions apply VERY well to journalism, or perhaps certain types of fiction, but not fiction on the whole.
One of my recently favorite authors is Elmore Leonard, who breaks most of these rules with great ferocity, and is a fantastic writer on the whole.
He has his own rules on writing, but the first is:
"My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."
In contrast to CS Lewis' writings, this leads to much more believable dialog, but that doesn't necessarily conform to any of Lewis' rules. Characters are seldom terse when they could instead be interesting. Characters are seldom cautious to take care that the reader can fully understand what they're saying. Characters are seldom as specific as you might like them to be.
I find this to be much more natural, and feels much less "like writing" than most other authors and for that, I appreciate him immensely.