Rules of Thumb for Business Writers

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

• ISBN13: 9780072347463
• ISBN10: 0072347465
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-31
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

Summary

The third in a successful McGraw-Hill series that includes Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers, Rules of Thumb for Online Research, and Rules of Thumb for Research, this guide has been designed to be used as a main text, a supplementary resource, and as a quick and easy reference. With full course of the writing process, directions, and advice that work, Rules of Thumb for Business Writers addresses the most common writing problems students will face every day in the business world.

Author Biography

Diana Roberts Wienbroer, Elaine Hughes, and Jay Silverman are the joint authors of Rules of Thumb for Research and Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers. They all have extensive experience teaching writing at universities across the country.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
A Note from the Authors	xiii
Part One: The Writing Process
Writing in the Business World	3	(3)
Finding Your Focus	6	(2)
Sizing Up Your Work Style	8	(3)
What to Do When You're Stuck	11	(3)
Organizing Your Ideas	14	(4)
Paragraphing	18	(4)
Continuity	22	(2)
Adding Visual Interest: Layout and Illustrations	24	(2)
Revising	26	(3)
Proofreading	29	(6)
Part Two: Writing with Power
Steps Toward a Clear Style	35	(3)
Writing to Persuade	38	(5)
Writing with Energy	43	(4)
Trimming Wordiness	47	(3)
Grammar Review: Common Sentence Patterns	50	(5)
Avoiding Tangled Sentences	55	(3)
Varying Your Sentences	58	(5)
Eliminating Biased Language	63	(4)
Part Three: Specific Business Writing
Guidelines for all Business Correspondence	67	(2)
E-mail and Fax Messages	69	(3)
Memos	72	(3)
Letters	75	(5)
Agendas and Minutes	80	(2)
Instructions and Directions	82	(2)
Reports	84	(5)
Newsletters and Press Releases	89	(3)
Proposals	92	(4)
Resumes	96	(7)
Part Four: Special Projects
Research on the Internet	103	(6)
Crediting Outside Sources	109	(3)
Recurring Projects	112	(2)
Long-term Projects	114	(4)
Collaborative Projects	118	(3)
The Spoken Word	121	(2)
Editing Other People's Drafts	123	(2)
Writing for Others	125	(4)
Part Five: Correctness---Usage
Confusing Words	129	(7)
One Word or Two?	136	(3)
Spelling	139	(3)
Capitalization	142	(2)
Abbreviations and Numbers	144	(2)
Correct Pronouns	146	(2)
Consistent Pronouns	148	(3)
Pronouns: Avoiding Vagueness	151	(2)
Verbs: Agreement with Subjects	153	(2)
Verbs: Consistent Tenses	155	(2)
Word Endings	157	(6)
Part Six: Correctness---Punctuation
Periods: Avoiding Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences	163	(6)
Commas	169	(4)
Semicolons and Colons	173	(2)
Dashes and Parentheses	175	(2)
Hyphens	177	(1)
Apostrophes	178	(1)
Quotation Marks	179	(4)
Italicizing (Underlining) or Quoting Titles	183	(34)
Appendix
Sample Memo	187	(1)
Sample Bad News Memo	188	(1)
Sample Letter	189	(1)
Sample Letter of Recommendation	190	(1)
Sample Meeting Agenda	191	(1)
Two Sample Press Releases	192	(2)
Sample Cover Letter	194	(1)
Sample Resume (Emphasis on Accomplishments)	195	(2)
Sample Resume (Emphasis on Skills)	197	(2)
Sample Resume (Limited Experience)	199	(1)
Sample Resume (Significant Experience)	200	(1)
The Anatomy of a Sentence: How to Diagram	201	(3)
A List of Important References	204	(13)
Index	217