Common Mistakes in Letter Writing

People have a tendency to avoid tasks for one of two reasons: 1) they find the task unpleasant or 2)
they fear or know they are bad at it. Letter writing can fall into either of these two categories. The
category you can do something to change, however, is the second one. Become aware of common
mistakes people make when writing letters and you can improve your letter writing skills.
Mistake #1: Not identifying the purpose of the letter.
Whether your letter is for business or personal communications, you should state in the beginning what
the letter is about. For example, you are requesting a refund for a broken product or you are following
up on a proposal. Even if you are just "saying hello" to Aunt Jane, state the purpose of your letter early
on. That way Aunt Jane will know to read with enjoyment as you tell her the latest events in your life, or
whether to read fervently to the end for the delivery of some horrible bad news. When you don't identify
the purpose for your writing, the recipient may not place the proper priority or urgency to your letter or,
in the case of business, may direct it to the wrong department thus delaying your refund or prolonging a
decision.
Mistake #2: Not getting to the point.
Just as when you don't identify the purpose for your letter, not getting to the point risks having the
recipient miss the intended message entirely. If you're really writing to resolve a specific problem, don't
spend three paragraphs apologizing in advance or talking about unrelated issues. Also known as
disorganization, not getting to the point turns a bad letter into a missed opportunity.
Mistake #3: Redundancy.
There are several types of redundancy, and all of them are equally unnecessary. The first, and easiest to
identify, is using the same word more than once in the same sentence or more than three times in the
same paragraph. An example is "She added a personal touch to the personal letter she wrote." The
second type of redundancy that many writers miss in their own writing is repeating the same idea in
different words: "Her message was effective because it was personal. The personal nature of her letter
made her message effective." This message is not effective - it's redundant.
Mistake #4: Using unfamiliar acronyms, abbreviations or technical language.
Don't assume your audience knows all the abbreviations, lingo and acronyms that you know. An
acronym is word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as CHOP for Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia. The same letters can stand for different organizations or meanings depending on where the
person lives or other frame of reference. Or they simply may not know what it stands for. The same
goes for technical language or jargon specific to a given profession, industry or interest group and for
abbreviations beyond the basic Mr./Ms. and etc. And it's probably okay to use OK.
Mistake #5: Using ambiguous or confusing words.
Similar to avoiding acronyms try to choose words with clear meaning, especially if your letter is
attempting to resolve a conflict. Ambiguous subjects or misplaced descriptive phrases can totally change
the intended meaning of your words. If you are having trouble identifying your own ambiguity, try
writing your major points in very simple subject-verb-object format. Even if it feels childish, this exercise
will actually spell out for you the key players and actions you want to communicate. You can fill in
details and modify the sentence structure - after you are clear about what you need to say.
Mistake #6: Monotonous sentence structure.
Counterbalance to mistake #5, you don't want to bore your audience to sleep either. Writing every
sentence in the same exact structure and length is amateurish and disruptive to the flow of the letter.
Vary sentence length and alter noun-verb order to add interest to your message.
Mistake #7: Inconsistency.
Variety, however, should not be confused with inconsistency. There are two things that generally should
not vary within a sentence or even within your letter: person and tense. Person refers to first (me, I,
we), second (you) and third (he, them, etc.). Tense pertains to verbs or action happening in the past,
present or future. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule, such as occasions where "I" am
telling "you" how "I" feel. Inconsistency applies to technique as well as meaning. If you are sending
mixed messages, the only sure outcome of your letter is confusion.
Mistake #8: Fragments, run-on sentences and missing or incorrect punctuation.
A lot of people have heard of a fragment but don't recognize it when they write one. A fragment is
simply not a complete sentence. Commonly used fragments are noun phrases (the man with the short
beard and navy jacket), verb phrases (walking through the park and over the hill), and prepositional
phrases (on a tree stump within the national park reserve). Run-on sentences have the opposite
problem: they are defined as two complete sentences not separated with proper punctuation such as a
period, comma-and, colon, or semi-colon. Punctuation deserves an article of its own, but common
problem areas are possessive pronouns vs. contractions ("its" is the correct possessive pronoun, while
"it's" is a contraction for "it is"), hyphen vs. dash (a hyphen combines two words into one whereas a
dash is used to separate words to distinguish multiple ideas or phrases), and misplaced commas. Items
in a series should have a comma after each item. A comma before the word "and" at the end of the
series is optional, but do not ever use a comma after the word "and". That is a misplaced comma.
Mistake #9: Bad spelling and misused words.
It ought to go without saying; misspelled words are a common mistake in letter writing. Not only does
bad spelling make you look unprofessional, it also gives the reader the impression that you don't know
what you are talking about. If they don't believe you, your communication is ineffective. If you are using
a computer, be sure to run a spelling and grammar check at least once. Do not, however, rely on spell
check alone. You should know by now, software programs do not identify correctly spelled words that
are used incorrectly in the context of the sentence. A notorious example is the transposition of the words
"from" and "form". Also, most software does not recognize proper names or some technical or industry-
specific terminology. If you are not paying attention, your software editor may change a word you
spelled correctly to something completely different -- while you are not looking!
Mistake #10: Not reading it over before you send it.
The last example is an excellent reason to be sure to re-read your letter before sending it to anyone.
Even if you think your letter is free of human error (which would be rare!), your letter may have been
corrupted by computer error or unintentional (and sometimes misfortunate) auto-formatting. No matter
what, read your letter through from beginning to end at least one time.
Keep an eye out for all the common mistakes above, and make sure you have thoroughly supported
your points.
Follow these few strands of advice and you are sure to produce a well-written letter that will
communicate the message you intend to convey and hopefully, achieve the results you desire.
by Shawn Thomas

Writing business letters perfectly is an art in its own priority. A professional business letter shall
definitely bring good and positive response for the business whereas an uncommon letter may not
yield expected results and at times, buisnesses lose customers. Therefore, writing of letters in
business language is very important which would impress customers and investors.

Writing Business Letter Essentials -

Tips That Will Make You Write Good Letters Fast
6

If you find the information on Writing Business Letter Essentials below useful, please
share it with your friends by clicking on the buttons above.

The purpose of a business letter

Keep in mind the reason you are writing a business letter. What are you trying to
achieve. You letter must be written in such a way that you achieve your desired
results.

Important note: If you are writing a critical letter, meaning a letter that involves
making or losing money, such as a sales letter or a job application cover letter, I
would recommend using the help of a professional writing service. Such services will
help you ensure you achieve your desired result. The fee you pay these services
(weather you use my service or not) is nothing compared to the results they can
achieve. It will most certainly be a lot better than writing the business letter
yourself. In business terms, they provide the best return on investment.

The following are some of the most important and practical tips on business letter
writing. These tips will help you come up with a letter that produces your desired
results.

Keep these tips in mind when writing all your letters:

Consider your Reader

Who is the reader? In a business letter, it is usually employees, customers, suppliers
or the public. When you are writing business letter, imagine that you are in the
readers' position. Are they happy, frustrated or merely inconvenienced? What
essential information does that person need to know through this communication?
What are their expectations when they open the letter? Have you addressed all of
these issues? By doing this, you will show the reader that you can relate to them
and the situation. This will build a relationship between the two of you.

Be Responsive
If you are responding to or with a letter, address the inquiry or problem. Most of the
time, companies rely too much on a handful of form letters to answer all situations.
This shows that you do not understand their needs. When you considered you reader
as above, you will be able to respond to them.

Is a letter or email the best option?

In a lot of situations, it may not be appropriate to just send a letter or email. A letter
is just one form of communication, and a lot of times, it should be used as a
followup to other forms of communications.

Think about how urgent is the situation or what sort of relationship you have with
the intended recipient. For example, when you are asking for a pay rise, you should
talk to your boss first and then follow up with a letter.

This is a big issue with a lot of readers, I have actually createdanother page just to
give you more examples.

Be Personal
Letters are written by people to people. Don't address it "to whom it may concern" if
it is possible. Whatever you do, do not use a photocopied form letter. Please see
how to use a form letter for the proper use of form letter if you have to use it. You
cannot build a relationship with canned impersonal letters. But also don't be too
informal. Avoid using colloquial language or slang such as "you know" or "I mean" or
"wanna".

Be concise and to the point

When writing business letter, explain your position in as little words as possible.
Spell out what you can and what they need to do. Use clear and easy to understand
language so that any misunderstanding can be minimized. Think before you write.
Ask yourself why you are writing? What is it that you want to achieve? Use this 5
step process:

1. List out the topics you want to cover. Do not worry about the order.
2. In each topic, list keywords, examples, arguments and facts.
3. Review each topic in your outline for relevance to your aim and audience.
4. Cut out anything that's not relevant.
5. Sort the information into the best order for your readers.

Be friendly, build the relationship

Don't use cold, formal language. Some people have the perception that when writing
business letter, they must use big words. To them this is a sign of literacy. Some
'big words' have no substitute, but do use the word correctly. You want the reader to
feel like they are reading a letter from someone who cares, not a technical manual.

Emphases the positive

1. Talk about what you can do, not what you can't. For example, if a product is
out of stock, don't tell the customer you are unable to fill the order, instead,
tell them the product is very popular and you have sold out. Then tell them
when you can get the order to them.
2. Stay away from negative words. For example, your complaint about our
product, instead, sorry our product was not up to your expectations.

Be Prompt
If you cannot respond fully in less than a week, tell them so and say when they can
expect a respond from you.

Check Spelling, Grammar & Facts

Always make sure you are 100% correct in spelling, grammar and facts. Use the
spell and grammar checker from your word processor. If you are not very good or
need more help, get someone to edit the letter.
 This is especially critical if you are writing an important letter that may cost you or
the business you work for money. If it is such an important letter, I recommend
using a professional writing serviceto review your letter.

Use the correct format

This section is too big, so go to Business Letter Format to find out more. There are
also examples of Writing Business Letter there.

Importance of Business letter

 posted by
 skvd
 in
 Business

 on
 August 6, 2009 - 4:39pm

Business Correspondence is part of a successful business. A business letter contents should be crystal
clear for the reader.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Your correspondence will conjure up a picture of you, or you’re together with your organization in the
mind of the person receiving it. Letter-writing is one of the main ways in which you can establish a
business relationship with the world at large; and a well written, well-displayed letter will create more
goodwill or win more customers for yourcompany than a poor letter will.

Whoever you write your writing style that gives the impression that yours is an efficient though the
friendly organization: and that you as an individual are pleasant and direct to deal with reader.
The Importance and purpose of business letters
Author: William King
Category: Business RSS
Republish this article manually
Republish articles from Business category automatically

Business letters are one of the ways for any business to communicate with all of its stake holders.
These stake holders may include customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, management,
government and the public in general. Business letters are the life blood of communication for any
business. There are many types of business letters in use. Many people thought that business letter
would be a thing of the past once the email and other technology seep into the offices. This notion has
so far been proven false. Business letters are still in wide use and their importance hasn't been
diminished to the slightest. There are many reasons why we usually write business letters. Some of the
most common and the obvious reasons for writing business letters are given below.

We write business letters to persuade any of the stakeholders by trying to convince through logic. These
letters usually address with intent to convince the addresser regarding the issue under discussion. We
also write articles to express our opinion or to intimate anyone regarding an issue. This may be to our
customers as well as to management or any one we wish to inform anything about. Business letters are
also written to remind someone regarding an important issue under going discussion or a process.
Business letters are also a very good way to follow up a marketing a leading that is very important for
the business to follow. Business letters play a very vital role in business proposals being accepted or
rejected. Usually business proposals are given through business letters and also accepted the same
way.

Businesses usually recommended this way on other ways to recommend or reject a proposal. The main
reason for using business letters for acceptance and rejection of proposals is that it becomes solid
evidence and any party later on can claim any other party against the breach of a said contract. This
preference of the business letters over other modern ways of communication for proposal acceptances
and rejections is likely to continue for some time because courts systems really started recognizing other
means. Though there have been some instances, but it becomes difficult while using other means.
Business letters also play a very good tool for introducing any new things or individuals to the
organization. The meeting out comes and other important announcements are also made through the
use of business letters. The wide use of business letter is still prevailing due to their low cost and ease of
use.
Resource Box:

Original Article URL: The Importance and purpose of business letters

Clara Ross writes for Best mobiles & Mobile Phones Blog: http://www.best-mobiles.com and
American Wholesale Blog: http://www.americanwholesaleblog.com/ . The author has got more
than a decade of experience in the real estate, marketing, and wholesale industries and has been
writing articles in industry related magazines, websites and blogs.