Second, verbosity obscures the writer’s ideas by hiding them amid a word surplus. In business, wasted time means wasted money. This tendency, known as wordiness, weakens writing in several ways.įirst, it shows a lack of respect for the reader’s time and suggests that the writer has not bothered to revise sufficiently. Writers sometimes use a hundred words where fifty would do. Most first drafts of email messages will contain wording problems the challenge is to revise so that the version you actually send says exactly what you want it to say. The second example, by contrast, clearly identifies the problems with Jon’s reports.Įditing for word choice problems requires a critical eye and attention to detail. Does Jon have messy handwriting? Does he spill his lunch on his reports? Or - a horrifying possibility - does he fail to proofread carefully? In the first example, you have no way of knowing what exactly is meant by sloppy. Jon’s reports consistently contain statistical and other factual errors. Specific writing requires more careful thought and more thoughtful writing and rewriting. Why? In part because it is more difficult to be specific than it is to be vague. Much business writing, email included, suffers from a lack of precision. Avoid the word choice problems described below. Conclusion: Concluding Thoughts on EmailĪs you edit your email, consider your word choice carefully, examining whether in any given case there is another word that could express an idea more clearly.Section 3.8: Responding to Careless Emailers.Section 3.7: Abbreviations and Emoticons.Introduction: Communicating in an Electronic Age.Email Etiquette for Business Professionals.
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