The Century Handbook of Writing - LightNovelsOnl.com
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=1.= Do not omit p.r.o.nouns, or write a "telegraphic style".
Wrong: Just received yours of the 21st, and in reply would say your order has been filled and s.h.i.+pped.
Right: I have your letter of March twenty-first. Your order was promptly filled and s.h.i.+pped.
=2.= The idea that it is immodest to use _I_ is a superst.i.tion. Undue repet.i.tion of _I_ is of course awkward; but entire avoidance of it is silly.
=3.= Use simple language. Say "your letter"; not "your kind favor", or "yours duly received", or "yours of the 21st is at hand".
=4.= Avoid "begging" expressions which you obviously do not mean, especially the hackneyed "beg to advise".
Wrong: Received yours of the 3rd instant, and beg to advise we are out of stock.
Right: We received your order of March 3. We find that we have no more dining-room chairs B 2-4-6 in stock.
Wrong: I beg to enclose a booklet.
Right: I enclose a booklet.
Wrong: Permit us to say that prices have been advanced.
Right: The prices on our goods have been advanced.
=5.= Avoid the formula "please find enclosed". The reader will find what is enclosed; if you use "please", let it refer to what the reader shall do with what is enclosed.
Wrong: Enclosed please find 10 cents, for which send me Bulletin 58.
Right: I enclose ten cents, for which please send me Bulletin 58.
=6.= Avoid unnecessary commercial slang: _On the job_, _A-1 service_, _O.K._, _your ad_, _popular-priced line_, _this party_, _as per schedule_.
=7.= Get to the important idea quickly. In applying for a position, do not beat around the bush, or say you "wish to apply" or "would apply".
Begin, "I make application for ...", "kindly consider my application for ...", or "I apply ..."
=8.= Group your ideas logically. Do not scatter information. A letter applying for a position might consist of three paragraphs: Personal qualifications (age, health, education, etc.); Experience (nature of positions, dates, etc.); References (names, business or profession, exact street address). Finish one group of ideas before pa.s.sing to the next.
=9.= Do not monotonously close all letters with a sentence beginning with a participle: _Hoping to hear from you ..._, _Asking your cooperation ..._, _Awaiting your further favors ..._, _Trusting this will be satisfactory ..._, _Wis.h.i.+ng you ..._, _Thanking you ..._. The independent form of the verb is more emphatic (see 42); _I hope to hear from you ..._, _We await further orders ..._, _We ask cooperation ..._.
=d. The close= should be consistent in tone with the greeting. It is written on a separate line, beginning near the middle of the page, and is followed by a comma. Only the first word is capitalized. Preceding expressions like "I am", "I remain", "As ever", (if they are used at all) belong in the body of the letter.
Right: I thank you for your courtesy, and remain
Yours sincerely, Robert Blair
Right: I shall be grateful for any further information you can give me.
Yours truly, Florence Mitch.e.l.l
In business letters the following forms are used:
Yours truly, Very truly yours, Yours respectfully,
In personal letters the following are used:
Yours truly, Yours sincerely, Sincerely yours, Cordially yours,
=e. The outside address should follow one of the forms given below:=
+---------------------------------------------------+ R. E. Stearns 512 Chapel Hill St. Durham, N. C. Mr. Donald Kemp 3314 Salem Street Baltimore Maryland +---------------------------------------------------+
+---------------------------------------------------+ Bentley Davis 906 Park Street Ogden, Utah Rogers, Mead, and Company 2401 Eighth Avenue Los Angeles California +---------------------------------------------------+
Note.--An abbreviation in an address is followed by a period.
Punctuation is also correct, but not necessary, after every line (a period after the last line, and a comma after the others).
A married woman is ordinarily addressed thus: Mrs. George H. Turner. But a t.i.tle belonging to the husband should not be transferred to the wife.
Wrong: Mrs. Dr. Jenkins, Mrs. Professor Ward. Right: Mrs. Jenkins, Mrs.
Ward. Reverend Mr. Beecher is a correct address for a minister; not "Rev. Beecher". If a t.i.tle of respect is placed before a name (Professor, Dr., Honorable), it is undesirable to place another t.i.tle after the name (Secretary, M.D., Ph.D., Princ.i.p.al, Esq.).
=f. Miscellaneous directions.= Writing should be centered on the page, not crowded against the top, or against one side. Letter paper so folded that each sheet is a little book of four pages is best for personal correspondence. Both sides of such paper may be written on. The pages may be written on in any order which will be convenient to the reader.
An order like that of the pages in a printed book (1, 2, 3, 4) is best.
Business letters are usually written on one side only of flat sheets 8-1/2 by 11 inches in size. The sheet is folded once horizontally in the middle, and twice in the other direction, for insertion in the envelope.
=g. A business letter should have, in general, the following form:=
1516 South Garrison Avenue.
Carthage, Missouri, May 14, 1918.
J. E. Pratt, General Superintendent, The Southwest Missouri Railroad Company, 1012 North Madison Street, Webb City, Missouri.
Dear Sir:
I apply for a position as mechanic's a.s.sistant in the electrical department of your shops. I am nineteen years old, and in good physical condition. On June 6 I shall graduate from Carthage High School, and after that date I can begin work immediately.
I have had no practical experience in electrical work. But I have for two years made a special study of physics, in and out of school. I worked last summer in the local garage of Mr. R.
S. Bryant. In addition, I have become familiar with tools in my workshop at home, so that I both know and like machinery.
For statements as to my character and ability, I refer you to R. S. Bryant, Manager Bryant's Garage; Mr. Frank Darrow (lawyer), 602 Ninth Street; W. C. Barnes, Superintendent of Schools; and C. W. Oldham, Princ.i.p.al of the High School--all of this city.
Respectfully yours, Howard Rolfe
=h. Formal notes and replies are written in the third person (avoiding _I_, _my_, _me_, _you_, _your_) and permit no abbreviations except _Mr._, _Mrs._, _Dr._ =
Mrs. Clarence King requests the company of Mr. Charles Eliot at dinner on Friday, April the twenty-fourth, at six o'clock.
102 Pearl Street, April the seventeenth.
