Orwell on Writing

My interpretation of Orwell's statements about writing is that they are meant to discourage those writers who fall into the trap of using cliched, overused language and phrasing in their writing. Orwell argues that once one begins to employ these techniques, the writing is no longer representative of their thoughts and vision. Instead the sentences tend to "construct themselves," which leads a writer to become disassociated from the very thoughts he is trying to express in his writing.

Instead, Orwell recommends giving serious thought to how you want to express yourself in your writing. Instead of taking the easy route and using the ready-made phrases that allow your brain to go into auto-pilot throughout the writing process, it is important to construct each sentence with thoughtfulness and care. Only in this way can you be sure that what is being construed in the writing is what you have in mind i.e. you control the words rather than "surrendering" to them.