Rules of Thumb for Business Writers

by Wienbroer, Diana; Hughes, Elaine; Silverman, Jay

• ISBN13: 9780071457576
• ISBN10: 0071457577
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-11
• Publisher: McGraw Hill

Summary

Rules of Thumb for Business Writersoffers busy professionals solutions to most on-the-job writing challenges. Brief, to-the-point chapters cover all the basics, including reports, resumes, speeches, memos, letters, and PowerPoint, with tips for meeting deadlines and managing paper flow. This edition contains new information on Internet research and communications technology, with examples, sample documents, and a resource list.

Author Biography

Diana Roberts Wienbroer has a businesswriting consultancy. Elaine Hughes conducted business seminars and creativity workshops. Jay Silverman received the Honors Program award for Excellence in Teaching at Nassau Community College in New York, where he continues to teach.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
A Note from the Authors	p. xi
The Writing Process
Writing in the Business World	p. 3
Finding Your Focus	p. 5
Sizing Up Your Work Style	p. 7
What to Do When You're Stuck	p. 10
Organizing Your Ideas	p. 13
Paragraphing	p. 17
Continuity: Using Transitions	p. 20
Adding Visual Interest: Layout, Illustrations, and PowerPoint Presentations	p. 22
Revising	p. 25
Proofreading	p. 28
Staying on Top of the Paper Flow	p. 30
Writing with Power
Steps Toward a Clear Style	p. 35
Writing to Persuade	p. 37
Writing with Energy	p. 41
Trimming Wordiness	p. 44
Varying Your Sentences	p. 46
Avoiding Tangled Sentences	p. 51
Eliminating Biased Language	p. 54
Specific Business Writing
Email and Fax Messages	p. 59
Memos	p. 64
Letters	p. 67
Agendas and Minutes	p. 72
Instructions and Directions	p. 74
Reports	p. 76
Websites	p. 81
Newsletters and Press Releases	p. 85
Proposals	p. 88
Resumes	p. 91
Special Projects
Research on the Internet	p. 99
Crediting Outside Sources	p. 107
Recurring Projects	p. 111
Long-Term Projects	p. 113
Collaborative Projects	p. 117
The Spoken Word	p. 119
Editing Other People's Drafts	p. 121
Writing for Others	p. 123
Correctness-Usage
Commonly Confused Words	p. 127
One Word or Two?	p. 136
Spelling	p. 140
Capitalization	p. 143
Abbreviations and Numbers	p. 146
Correct Pronouns	p. 148
Consistent Pronouns	p. 150
Pronouns: Avoiding Vagueness	p. 154
Verbs: Agreement with Subjects	p. 156
Verbs: Consistent Tenses	p. 158
Word Endings: s and ed	p. 160
Correctness-Punctuation
Periods: Avoiding Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences	p. 165
Commas	p. 171
Semicolons and Colons	p. 175
Dashes and Parentheses	p. 177
Hyphens	p. 179
Apostrophes	p. 180
Quotation Marks	p. 181
Italicizing (Underlining) or Quoting Titles	p. 185
Appendix
Sample Business Documents	p. 189
Memo	p. 189
Bad News Memo	p. 190
Detailed Email	p. 191
Email Templates	p. 192
Letter of Recommendation	p. 193
Meeting Agenda	p. 194
Press Release	p. 195
Cover Letter for Resume	p. 196
Resume (Emphasis on Accomplishments)	p. 197
Resume (Emphasis on Skills)	p. 199
Resume (Limited Experience-Concealing Current Employer)	p. 201
Resume (Significant Experience)	p. 202
Guidelines for Preparing Documents	p. 203
Basic Formatting for Business Documents	p. 203
Shortcuts for "Word"	p. 206
Grammar Review: Common Sentence Patterns	p. 212
Anatomy of a Sentence: How to Diagram	p. 217
A List of Important References	p. 220
Index	p. 233
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