Before you write anything, ask yourself these questions

Says George Orwell:

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: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?And he will probably ask himself two more:Could I put it more shortlyHave I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

More here.

See also: George Orwell at Encyclopedia Britannica.