In Orwell's 1946 essay Politics and the English Language, Orwell offers six questions and six rules that every writer should use to write with clarity.

6 Questions a Scrupulous Writer Asks About Every Sentence:

What am I trying to say?
What words will express it?
What image or idiom will make it clearer?
Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
Could I put it more briefly?
Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

6 Rules for Clear Writing:

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

It’s easier to follow Orwell’s advice once you’ve written an extra-long draft of your personal statement — something over the page limit. That’s when you can step back and identify what’s absolutely essential to the story, cut what isn’t, or even realize that two distinct stories are hiding in one, which can be useful for adapting to a second optional essay prompt. If you cannot tell what the minimum elements are—the pieces you must keep for the story to have impact—wait some time, or get feedback from people you trust will be critical.

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George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language”: 6 Questions, 6 Rules for Clear Writing