The Universe of Writing Concerns

Contributed by Deane Gradous, Twin Cities consultant

There are a wide variety of considerations when developing correspondence.

Type of correspondence

Audience

Task, relationship, and image

Organized for the reader

Letters (external)
· Decision
- - Good news
- - Bad news
· Persuasion
- - Networking
- - Sales
- - Requests

Memos, reports (internal)
· Research reports
· Status reports
· Meeting reports
· Trip reports
· Progress reports
· Procedures
· Newsletters
· Request for action

E-mail

Fax

Transparencies

Direction
· Up--management
· Down--associates
· Across--peers
· Out--customers

Reader analysis
· Decision maker
· Customer/client
· Regulator
· Expert/ non-expert
· Technician
· Operator
· Manager

Purpose

Tone
· Turn on/off
· Connotation/ denotation

Style
· Formal
· Informal
· Conversational
· Personal
· Impersonal

Correctness
· Grammar
· Spelling
· Proofreading

Strength
· Concision
· Active voice

Relationship issues
· "You" focus
· Positive
· Empathic
· Inclusive
· Problem solving
· Collaborative
Indirect

Direct

Methods of development
· Order of importance
· By time
· By space, etc.

Layouts

Headings

Data

Graphs

Illustrations

For the Category of Communications (Business Writing):

Recommended Books

General Information

The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just hover your cursor over the image of the book. A "bubble" of information will be displayed. You can click on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.