Who the hell wants to be plain anyway?

It’s National Plain English Day today.

It’s a Good Thing, obviously. Plain writing is better than jargon-filled gobbledigook any day.

But there’s something about the word ‘plain’ that bothers me.

Sometimes people say in workshops ‘oh yes, we do try and make our writing plain.’

They never exactly say it with much enthusiasm.

And who can blame them?

Who ever called a friend and said ‘It’s love at first sight! She’s just so... plain.’

Have you ever said to someone ‘that meal was lovely. Really plain food.’

Who the hell wants to be plain in life?

So why on earth is ‘plain’ good enough for our writing?

Especially these days, when your words have to fight for attention in the daily blizzard of emails, or you need to write a speech or presentation to inspire your team in these tough times.

Don’t be plain. Be brave. Be Bold. Be interesting.

Plain? It’s for crisps.