Intoduction to Letter Writing

The Six C's of Letter Writing

1. Clarity
1. This can be achieved by close attention to organisation adn specific details. Be as concrete and specific as you can. Avoid ambiguous phrasing: the message should be clear on the first reading. Your reader should never have to puzzle out your meaning, and should have no unanswered questions after reading your correspondence.
2. Conciseness
1. Say as much as you need to say in as little space as possible without being curt. Leave out irrelevant details and avoid repeating yourself. Avoid wordy expressions and cliches, such as ;
• at this point of time
• it is proable that
• until such time as
• if this proves to be the case
• it has come to my attention that
• please do not hesitate to
3. Correctness
1. Check the accuracy of all information - for example names, dates, places, receipts, numbers, prices etc. Corretness also inlcudes spelling grammar and sentence structure. Never send a business letter withour proofreading and correcting it firtst. To do so is extremely unprofessional, and a mistake could be costly. When you proofread you read with the clear intention of improving your written message.
4. Courtesy
1. Be very careful of your tone in business communication; things usually go more smoothly if people are friendly to one another, and this is especially true in business. Always be pleasant, and be sure to say "please" and "thank you". Even if you are writing to someone whom you believe has done you wrong, give the person the benefit of doubt; assume the error was the unintentional result of a misunderstanding.
5. Cohesiveness
1. Any business correspondence should "hold together" ; the parts should be logically connected one to the other, and you should use connectives to guide your reader from one point to the next. If you have organised your ideas well, cohesiveness should be easy to attain by the addition of connectives. Some that you may wish to use include :
• since
• therefore
• naturally
• also
• for example
• as well as
• however
• of course
• nevertheless
• once again
• thus
• in addition to
• furthermore
6. Completeness
1. Make sure no important details have been overlooked. Have you included all of the information your reader will need in order to understand and act on your message? Always ask yourself, "Have i said everything I needed to say?" Be sure you have answered any of these which are relevant ;
• Who?
• When?
• Why?
• What?
• Where?
• How many?
• How?

Letter Writing Tip

1. Check for sentense structure, grammar and spelling mistakes
2. Proofread your letter after you have revised it.
3. Keep the recipient in mind, and write in a way that he/she can easily understand the letter.
4. Don't use abbreviated dates, i.e. use 19 April 2010, and not 19/04/2010.
5. Be respectful when you write, even if you are writing a letter of complaint.
6. Be concise and keep to the point, but don't leave out any important idea/fact.

Effective letter writing

• Understand your reader's needs and then clearly write what you need to say.
• Every letter should be clear, human, helpful and as friendly as the topic allows.
• the best letters have a conversational tone and read as if you were talking to your reader.

Features of a letter

1. Feature 1 - No immediate feedback
2. Feature 2 - No opportunity to give clarification
3. Feature 3 - Must be :
1. Precise
2. Careful
3. Concise
4. Effectively presented : Print size ; Spacing ; Layout ; Colour