TIPS AND TRICKS FOR WRITING SUCCESS - PART 1 of 7
This Free mini-course is sponsored by:
http://www.WritingHelpTools.com
http://www.WritingHelp-Central.com
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Hi Affiliate,
Thanks for subscribing to this free mini-course...
"Tips and Tricks For Writing Success" tutorial.
Just before getting started, I'll tell you a little bit about
me. My name is Shaun Fawcett. I am a Canadian-based writer,
consultant, journalist, and publisher who has worked in many
professional capacities over the past 25+ years. I am also
Webmaster of the popular one-stop writing help Web site:
http://www.writinghelp-central.com/about.html
Every week, over 40,000 people from more than 170 countries
visit that site to obtain tips, advice, pointers, templates and
resource information on everyday writing including: personal and
business letters, resumes, cvs, reports, essays, term papers,
and college admission essays.
I received my M.B.A. through the University of Ottawa's
Executive MBA Program in 1996. I have written and published
ten (10) books/ebooks to-date. My latest, an eBook is a major
update to my original best selling eBook. It's called:
"Instant Home Writing Kit (Revised Edition) - How To Save
Money, Time and Effort and Simplify Everyday Writing Tasks".
http://www.InstantHomeWritingKit.com
In this Revised Edition I have more than doubled the content
and templates over the original version. As far as I am aware,
it is now the most comprehensive practical guide for day-to-day
home, school, and business writing that exists on this planet.
http://www.InstantHomeWritingKit.com
Now, let's get into the Course.
The basic purpose of this 7-part course is to provide you with
essential information about many of the key writing tasks that
most people encounter in their day-to-day lives.
Some of the information in the course is from my Writing Help
Central Web site, some is taken from my various books/eBooks
and, and the rest was developed just for this course.
I have no doubt that you will find much of the information
contained in this course valuable in helping you with many
of your daily writing tasks.
Without further delay, here's Part 1...
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7 Essential Letter-Writing Strategies
(c) Shaun Fawcett
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Based on the feedback that I have been getting from visitors
to my writinghelp-central.com Web site, letter writing is
definitely the area where most people are looking for help or
guidance when it comes to day-to-day writing.
Over 60% of the visitors to our site are seeking some sort of
letter writing information or assistance. The following lists
the types of letters that people request information on, in
order of popularity:
1. recommendation letter
2. reference letter
3. business letter
4. thank you letter
5. introduction letter
6. complaint letter
7. sales letter
8. cover letter
9. termination letter
10. resignation letter
ESSENTIAL LETTER WRITING STRATEGIES AND TIPS
Here are a few practical letter-writing tips to help you when
writing that next letter:
1. KEEP IT SHORT AND TO THE POINT
Letters involving business (personal or corporate) should be
concise, factual, and focused. Try to never exceed one page
or you will be at risk of losing your reader. A typical letter
page will hold 350 to 450 words. If you can't get your point
across with that many words you probably haven't done enough
preparatory work. If necessary, call the recipient on the
phone to clarify any fuzzy points and then use the letter
just to summarize the overall situation.
2. MAKE IT CLEAR, CONCISE, AND LOGICAL
Before sitting down to write, make a brief point-form outline
of the matters you need to cover in the letter. Organize those
points into a logical progression that you can use as your
guide as you write the letter. The logical blocks of the letter
should be: 1. introduction/purpose, background/explanation,
summary/conclusion, action required statement. Use this outline
process to organize your approach and your thoughts, and to
eliminate any unnecessary repetition or redundancy.
3. FOCUS ON THE RECIPIENT'S NEEDS
While writing the letter, focus on the information requirements
of your audience, the intended addressee. If you can, in your
"mind's eye", imagine the intended recipient seated across a
desk or boardroom table from you while you are explaining the
subject of the letter. What essential information does that
person need to know through this communication? What will be
their expectations when they open the letter? Have you addressed
all of these issues?
4. USE SIMPLE AND APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE
Your letter should use simple straightforward language, for
clarity and precision. Use short sentences and don't let
paragraphs exceed three or four sentences. As much as possible,
use language and terminology familiar to the intended recipient.
Do not use technical terms and acronyms without explaining them,
unless you are certain that the addressee is familiar with them.
5. USE SHORT SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS
Keep your sentences as short as possible, and break the text
up into brief paragraphs. Ideally, a paragraph should not
exceed two to three sentences. This will make the letter more
easily readable, which will entice the recipient to read it
sooner, rather than later.
6. REVIEW AND REVISE IT
Do a first draft, and then carefully review and revise it. Put
yourself in the place of the addressee. Imagine yourself
receiving the letter. How would you react to it? Would it
answer all of your questions? Does it deal with all of the key
issues? Are the language and tone appropriate? Sometimes
reading it out loud to one's self can help. When you actually
"hear" the words it is easy to tell if it "sounds" right or not.
7. CHECK SPELLING AND GRAMMAR
A letter is a direct reflection of the person sending it, and
by extension, the organization that person works for. When the
final content of the letter is settled, make sure that you run
it through a spelling and grammar checker. To send a letter
with obvious spelling and grammatical errors is sloppy and
unprofessional. In such cases, the recipient can't really be
blamed for seeing this as an indication as to how you (and/or
your organization) probably do most other things.
The foregoing basic letter writing strategies and tips are
mostly common sense. Nevertheless, you would be amazed how
often these very basic "rules of thumb" are not employed when
people write letters.
To see fully-formatted "real-life templates" of some sample
letters, click on the following links:
http://www.writinghelp-central.com/recommendation-letter.html
http://www.writinghelp-central.com/business-letter.html
http://www.writinghelp-central.com/complaint-letter.html
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Well, Affiliate, that just about does it for Part 1.
By the way, if you like this kind of information and can't wait
for the next installment, you can get lots more just like it,
plus over 80 downloadable real-life templates at:
http://instanthomewritingkit.com
All the best,
Shaun Fawcett, M.B.A.
P.S.
Here's what an early owner of "Instant Home Writing Kit" had
to say about it:
"I truly believe the Kit will be a very useful tool to many
people, in and out of school. It was more than what I expected
to get. I wish I would have had it about a month ago when I
was taking Business and Administrative Communication. I had
to write a number of letters and did not have a clue where to
begin. I still have a year to go to earn my degree and I'm
sure it (Instant Home Writing Kit) will come in very handy
during that time."
--- Leslie Howell, Florence, Mississippi, U.S.A.
http://instanthomewritingkit.com
STILL TO COME:
Part 2: Use Real-Life Templates For Writing Success
Part 3: Writing Business Letters That Get The Job Done
Part 4: Recommendation Letters Demystified
Part 5: 10 Tips For Writing A Winning Resume
Part 6: How To Write Resume Cover Letters That Work
Part 7: 7 Secrets For Beating Writer's Block
Your next course installment will arrive on Jul. 7, 2008.
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Copyright (c) Shaun R. Fawcett, All Rights Reserved.
mailto:shaun@writinghelp-central.com
http://www.WritingHelpTools.com
http://www.WritingHelp-Central.com
http://www.instantHomeWritingkit.com
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