Writing

• What is the single goal of the essay?
• Can I write more emotionally rather than rationally?
• Can I start with a descriptive (but also relevant) story?
• Can I include personal anecdotes? (The Price We Pay, I Decided to Live As Me, and Morgan Housel’s writings are good examples.)
• Can I go straight to the content or don’t spend too many words preempting the content? (Risky Business is a bad example.)
• When making assertions, substantiate with data (unless it is very obviously the case, which is rare). E.g. “most people don’t know why they need insurance” - Is that even true?
• Link to primary sources
• What is the appropriate tone? A personal story can be more casual and humorous while an industry write up should be more professional and authoritative. 
• Instead of always using percentages to present data, use stories and actual numbers (Jane paid $500 for her health insurance three years ago and $1000 this year) or comparisons (all the profits of greedy health insurance companies would pay for four days of healthcare for all Americans).
• Be specific. Three days ago, not a few days ago. 
• Leave it for 3 days before the final edit

George Orwell: 6 Questions

1. What am I trying to say?
2. What words will express it?
3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
5. Could I put it more shortly?
6. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

George Orwell: 6 Rules

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which 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 where 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 English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.