Email Writing

Formal email writing advice and examples

2009-11-25T10:02:00.000+09:00

This blog does not get much attention, as you may note from the dates of the posts. These days, though, I am seeing more visitors in the stats, and, more importantly, more commenters on the posts. The commenters are always asking for more examples, but I really don't have them.

This blog was started as a site to supplement a single unit (and workshop) that I gave to medical students in my writing classes. The focus was more on an overview of register and format of email styles and less of a focus on business writing. That's not to say that this couldn't be used for business writing (as it certainly can), but it was not the original intent. I have never conducted courses on business writing (though I may in the coming year), so I don't have any of those materials on hand. I do, though, intend to add some of those materials both here and on a more general purpose writing blog, SNU Writing, and a yet-to-be-created blog to be used for my new university (I no longer work with Seoul National University).

Until then, here are a few links to resources that provide more information on writing formal letters/email, which is what most people writing for business purposes are really looking for.

Brief example here http://esl.about.com/od/businessenglishwriting/a/bizdocs_3.htm
Some suggestions here: http://www.blurtit.com/q340643.html
Nice PDF/learning activity here: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/email%20worksheet%201.pdf
Some good advice and samples here: http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/letters/l/bl_block_p.htm

Sample Documents

2008-03-25T11:34:00.002+09:00

Here are the examples from the workshop.

Welcome to Email Writing

2007-03-14T12:22:00.002+09:00

Welcome to Email Writing!

This is a resource that I have put together primarily for the Email Writing Workshop, but I hope that it can be used by anyone looking to improve their email writing skills.

This blog will primarily include links to information assembled at other sites, as well as some of my own observations.

Hope you enjoy.

Dan

Hacking Email: 99 Email Security and Productivity Tips

2006-11-28T00:35:00.000+09:00

Here are some very good suggestions for what to do and what not to do in your email communications.

Email Writing Workshop - Email Template

2006-10-13T12:42:00.001+09:00

I created a basic Microsoft Word Template specifically for this Email Workshop. It contains a number of suggestions and reminders for filling out an email. This is a learning tool, however; it was not meant to be used each time you fill out an email.

Please download the file (.dot format) and see if it can help you.

Microsoft Office Templates Home Page

2006-10-13T11:48:00.000+09:00

On this site, you can find just about any template that you are looking for. Though, I wasn't able to find any specifically for email that is not a problem. Like we discussed in the workshop, email is very similar to "snailmail" (letters) in it's format, tone, and voice.

Check out some of the templates that they have for Microsoft Word as well as templates for other Microsoft Products. These could end up saving you a lot of time.

Format e-mail messages for clarity

2006-10-13T00:54:00.000+09:00

This is an article from Microsoft that details steps that you can take to improve the clarity of your messages.

8 e-mail mistakes that make you look bad

2006-10-13T00:36:00.000+09:00

This is a good article from the folks at Microsoft. It details some email no-no's that we all should be aware of.

7 Tips for Easy Email (EnglishClub.com)

2006-10-13T00:32:00.000+09:00

This is a well-written article on the EnglishClub website. It contains some basic email etiquette as well as some good examples.