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Example Order Letter
Dept. of English
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
May 23, 1999
Ms. Dawn Snyder,
Professor
ICU Technical College
Portland, ME 04101
Dear Ms. Snyder:
Would you please send me the following articles via COD? According to your Web site, all articles are in your possession and all is needed is the article name, date, and number of pages.
| Article |
Date |
Pages |
| "Role of Maine in the fishing strike of 1867" |
1987 |
47 |
| "Effect of Maine geography on the War of 1812" |
1969 |
121 |
| "World War II: From Androscoggin to York" |
1997 |
4 |
Thank you very much,
(signature here)
I.B. Writing,
Professor, CSU
Example Inquiry Letter
Dept. of English
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
May 23, 1999
Ms. Dawn Snyder,
Professor
ICU Technical College
Portland, ME 04101
Dear Ms. Snyder:
I am a professor in English at Colorado State University organizing a seminar on concept mapping for a colloquium coming up in December. Based on your experience in this area, I was wondering if you would be interested in attending.
The deadline for admission is August 13. It would be a great honor to have you in attendance. Enclosed is an admissions form and more information on the colloquium.
Thank you for your time,
(signature here)
I.B. Writing,
Professor, CSU
Example Response to an Inquiry Letter
Dawn Snyder, Professor
ICU Technical College
Portland, ME 04101
May 27, 1999
Professor I.B. Writing,
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
Dear Mr. Writing:
I would be honored to attend your colloquium on concept mapping in December. I think you know how strongly I feel about that paradigm and the role the great state of Maine has played in its development.
I am enclosing the admissions sheet sent to me, as well as the articles you requested that I have recently published on the subject. Good luck on organizing the event- I cannot wait to be there!
Sincerely,
(signature here)
I.B. Writing,
Professor, CSU
DS/ls
Enclosure(114)
c: Scott McRae, Dean of Department of Journalism
Example Sales Letter
CLOSET CARE
1248 SE Lancaster Blvd
Tigard, OR 97225
July 7, 1999
Professor I.B. Writing,
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
Dear Mr. Writing:
Are you having trouble organizing your clothes into your existing closets? If you are like most Americans, you have trouble finding your favorite shirt when you really need it. This is why it is important to have an organized closet system.
At CLOSET CARE, we have the skills and experience to come in and help you with your closet needs. May we stop by and offer you a FREE estimate at how much it would cost you to rebuild your closet? If so, give us a call at 555-1212 and set up and appointment with one of your friendly operators.
Sincerely,
(signature here)
Kent Lenoir
President
KL/jt
Example Claim Letter
WJ&M Construction Company
2383 NW Turner Blvd
Tigard, OR 97225
July 10, 1999
Kent Lenoir, President
Closet Care
Tigard, OR 97225
Dear Mr. Lenoir:
As someone who has worked with you for over 12 years, we were very disappointed to see the work that you did on one of the houses we subcontracted to you in the Camas development.
As our oral agreement stipulated, we expected 5 black armoire units to be installed in the master bedroom, but instead, we found that 3 white particle-board desks were put in. I think you will agree that a communication problem exists.
We would like you to send out a crew to take out the white desks and put the black armoire units in immediately, or provide us with a refund.
Yours truly,
(signature here)
WJ Billings,
President
WJ/mm
Example Adjustment Letter
CLOSET CARE
1248 SE Lancaster Blvd
Tigard, OR 97225
July 17, 1999
WJ Billings, President
WJ&M Construction Company
2383 NW Turner Blvd
Tigard, OR 97225
Dear Ms. Billings:
I was very disappointed to read your letter of July 10th dealing with the issue of wrong product installed in one of your homes. As someone who values your business, I have already put a plan in motion to fix the problem.
My warehouse manager and a crew will be at the site July 19th to take out the white desks and replace them with the black armoire units, free of charge. Also, we will deduct another 10 percent of the bill for the misunderstanding. Thank you for your patience.
Sincerely,
(signature here)
Kent Lenoir
President
KL/jt
source: http://writing.colostate.edu/references/documents/bletter/pop2f.cfm
Making Reports
Plan the sections and subsections you need.
With technical writing you must present your information so readers can:
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use the report for the purpose for which it was requested;
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extract the main points without necessarily reading the whole;
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easily find the information that interests them;
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and quickly absorb the crucial information they need to know.
Keep information specific rather than general.
Have you seen readers going through documents, using a highlight pen to find the key words, facts and figures. They do not highlight phrases such as: As you will be aware, the purpose of this document is to... in the order of... Readers want to take specific information from technical documents. For example:
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General |
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Specific |
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- heavy precipitation during the period
- excessive heat
- select the appropriate key
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- four inches of rain in 48 hours
- 120 degrees Fahrenheit
- click Alt-B
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As long as you guard against going into excessive detail, replacing general information with specific information will improve your technical documents. For example, if a manager want to know why production stopped for an hour on the assembly line, the author has to decide just how specific to make the message.
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Too General |
| Problems arose in a number of areas of the stock transportation device that required intervention by an appropriately qualified member of staff so remedial action could be taken. |
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Specific |
| As the temperature rose to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the coolant for the metal rollers overheated causing the conveyor belt to jam. To keep the belt working, a mechanical engineer had to reset the timer and rollers on the conveyor belt, replace the coolant and slow the belt by 25% to 200 feet an hour. |
Write in plain English.
Good writing, whether technical or general, presents relevant information in a clear style. Technical writing has such a poor reputationask users what they think of computer manualsbecause writers fail to use the clear, plain English style.
Plain English is a simple style that anyone can understand. You have to control sentence length, use active verbs, cut down on unnecessary jargon, make your writing specific and tight. This is not the way we learn to write at college or in the workplace. The culture of academic writing and business and scientific writing is the dull, long-winded, passive style. Take the following example; then compare the draft in plain English.
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Original |
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Redraft in Plain English |
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From any page of a site, links can be found which point to other pages in the same site or to other sites, wherever they may be. Specifically, these links are addresses which are called URLs. However, what is interesting for the visitor is not the address itself, but what can be found there, and so generally the address is not displayed. Instead, what you find there is highlighted in the text (by underlining it and displaying it in another color, often blue). |
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You can link any page to other pages on the same site or different sites. These URL addresses, usually hidden from view, guide the user to the right page. The user can then click on any underlined text, often shown in blue, and more information pops up. |
Use active verbs rather than passive verbs.
Using active verbs is the first rule of good writing. All authorities on good writing, including scientific and technical bodies, recommend active verbs rather than passive verbs. Why? Passive verbs are longwinded, ambiguous and dull. Active verbs make your writing simpler, less awkward, clearer and more precise. Here's an example:
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Passive Verbs |
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Active Verbs |
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The QMS Magicolor 2 Printer is equipped with two interfaces, one is known as the parallel interface, the other is known as the Ethernet interface. Whatever interface connection is needed, you will find that MS Windows 98 has already been preinstalled and your software applications are based on this platform.
(50 words) |
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The QMS Magicolor 2 Printer has Parallel and Ethernet interfaces. Whatever interface you need, you will find your software applications will work on the preinstalled MS Windows 98.
(28 words) |
Technical writing is full of passive verbs because most people learn to in the third person because it is supposedly more objective. This is a false notion. In the next example, the passive and active are both objectivebut the active sentences sounds more natural and are 29 words shorter.
Keep your average sentence between 10 to 20 words.
Long sentences make any document hard to read. In technical documents keep your average sentence between 10 to 20. You may go down as low as 10 or 11 words if you're writing instructions with many short, sharp sentences telling the user what to do. However, if you get below 10 words, you're probably overdoing the technique of short sentences.
Compare these examples:
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Long Sentence |
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Shorter Sentences |
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A highlight of the web site is the development of two types of electronic advisory systemsExpert and Technical where both of the systems inform the user about standards by either asking a series of questions which determine whether, how, and which specific parts of the standard apply to the user's activities, or addressing complex standards by placing in one location a large amount of information about the standard.
(One Sentence70 words) |
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The web site offers both expert and technical advice sections. These explain standards by asking questions to find out if and how the standards apply to the user. They also address complex standards by placing all the relevant information in one place.
(Three sentencesTotal 42 words |
Use simple words rather than complex ones.
Many writers have difficulty keeping their message simple and clear. Instead of using everyday words they use complex or unfamiliar words. Simple, everyday words will help you get your message across. Too often technical writers use words such as additional, indicate, initiate and proliferate instead of the simpler extra, show, start and spread.
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Complex Words |
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Simple Words |
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As we noted in the preceding section, if you purchased additional printer options, such as a second printer tray, it is a requirement you verify its correct installation. |
Use examples and illustrations.
When you write up your technical information, remember to use examples, illustrations and analogies to explain difficult information or new ideas. For example:
- The operating system of your computer is like the bridge a ship, the control center for everything that happens on your machine.
A simple example or illustration can go a long way to making technical writing understandable.
Use diagrams, flowcharts and graphs.
The cliché a picture is worth a thousand words is true. A good diagram, flowchart or graph can present information quickly that would take ten sentences to explain. Click here to see a diagram showing the a car's clutch. Such a diagram makes any explanation or technical description far easier to understand.
source: Nancy Halligan http://www.technical-writing-course.com/
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