Advice to HR Writers: Pluck Your Little Flowers
Posted on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 by Frank RocheI went to journalism school for a few years, and the best advice I ever got was “pluck your little flowers,” which meant that writers need to recognize when their prose turns purple. That’s why I like this quote by Samuel Johnson so much – it’s about plucking your little flowers:
Read over your compositions, and wherever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.
This advice is particularly pointed information for HR. Write in an active voice. Be authentic. Be clear. Leave the HR and business jargon to others. Your job is to communicate with employees. If you want to be cutesy and convoluted with your writing, join a Victorian Poetry Club.
John Windsor
May 1st, 2007
Oh, that would be HARD (since I try to be spare anyway), but I’ll give it a try. Maybe.
Bill Strahan
May 1st, 2007
This is great advice. The paradox is sometimes that if you say less but its important, they remember more.
DonaldHTaylor
May 4th, 2007
Great advice – the journalism schooling certainly shows through in the clarity of your writing.
I find the discipline of blogging particularly good for forcing me to be succinct and intelligle to a potentially global audience. That is an audience that could come from anywhere in the world, with any native language, and a wide range of educational attainment. Basically I’ve aimed to shorten my sentences and simplify my vocabularly but not my thinking. I’m still learning!
Frank Roche
May 4th, 2007
Hi Donald. First, thanks! It’s tough blogging each day to get the pieces down to their essence. I do better on some days than others. We’re all still learning, is right.
Bill…more of the less is more!
John…I know you do it…everyone who has commented here I have a read a lot…but not with wasted words!