Ask HN: resources for improved writing at work?

2 points by ericlamb89 6 years ago | 2 comments

I lead a team that needs to communicate with various stakeholders (usually in writing). I've noticed a number of issues in their writing:

1. Too wordy 2. Filled with jargon or "fancy-sounding" words that obscure their meaning 3. A lot of passive voice 4. Poor logic. Not sure if "logic" is the right word but it goes something like this: failing to see the difference between "the platform cannot do X" and "the platform can ONLY do Y".

Has anyone had any success improving the emails, docs, etc of their team? Any tips, links, etc are appreciated.

donnanorton 5 years ago |

I don't know if it helps you much, but here's a list of common writing mistakes and ways to fix them: https://custom-writing.org/blog/rules-of-writing At least it's something to start with.

geeklord 6 years ago |

Start by gathering the best writing samples your team has completed. Identify the most appealing aspects of each document. Review the lists of positive responses for patterns. With enough documents and enough people participating, you’ll arrive at a consensus standard for quality writing: A set of models and specific language that describes exactly what your organization likes about them.