I clipped these from a bookmark I made last week — they’re so good they deserved a post. Orwell‘s six rules for writing are very applicable to copywriting for the web:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive voice when you can use the active
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous!

Posted via web from 7thgroove’s posterous