How To Write Letters Formerly The Book Of Letters

Author : Mary Owens Crowther
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781512014341
Total Pages : 326 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (143 download)

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Download or read book How to Write Letters written by Mary Owens Crowther and published by . This book was released on 2015-05-03 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Do not abbreviate anything-initials may be used in informal invitations and acceptances, but, in the formal, "H. E. Jones" invariably has to become "Horatio Etherington Jones." "No one can go far wrong in writing any sort of letter if first the trouble be taken to set out the exact object of the letter. A letter always has an object-otherwise why write it? But somehow, and particularly in the dictated letter, the object frequently gets lost in the words. A handwritten letter is not so apt to be wordy-it is too much trouble to write. But a man dictating may, especially if he be interrupted by telephone calls, ramble all around what he wants to say and in the end have used two pages for what ought to have been said in three lines. On the other hand, letters may be so brief as to produce an impression of abrupt discourtesy. It is a rare writer who can say all that need be said in one line and not seem rude. But it can be done. "The single purpose of a letter is to convey thought. That thought may have to do with facts, and the further purpose may be to have the thought produce action. But plainly the action depends solely upon how well the thought is transferred. Words as used in a letter are vehicles for thought, but every word is not a vehicle for thought, because it may not be the kind of word that goes to the place where you want your thought to go; or, to put it another way, there is a wide variation in the understanding of words. The average American vocabulary is quite limited, and where an exactly phrased letter might completely convey an exact thought to a person of education, that same letter might be meaningless to a person who understands but few words. Therefore, it is fatal in general letter writing to venture into unusual words or to go much beyond the vocabulary of, say, a grammar school graduate. Statistics show that the ordinary adult in the United States-that is, the great American public-has either no high school education or less than a year of it. You can assume in writing to a man whom you do not know and about whom you have no information that he has only a grammar school education and that in using other than commonplace words you run a double danger-first, that he will not know what you are talking about or will misinterpret it; and second, that he will think you are trying to be highfalutin and will resent your possibly quite innocent parade of language." CONTENTS WHAT IS A LETTER? THE PURPOSE OF THE LETTER THE PARTS OF A LETTER 1. The Heading 2. The Inside Address 3. The Salutation 4. The Body of the Letter 5. The Complimentary Close 6. The Signature 7. The Superscription BEING APPROPRIATE-WHAT TO AVOID Common Offenses Stock Phrases in Business Letters PERSONAL LETTERS-SOCIAL AND FRIENDLY Invitations and Acknowledgments The Letter of Condolence Letters of Sympathy in Case of Illness Letters of Congratulation Letters of Introduction Letters of Thanks Letters Between Friends PERSONAL BUSINESS LETTERS THE BUSINESS LETTER Sales and Announcement Letters Keeping the Customer Selling Real Estate Bank Letters Letters of Order and Acknowledgment Letters of Complaint and Adjustment Credit and Collection Letters Letters of Application Letters of Reference Letters of Introduction Letters of Inquiry THE USE OF FORM PARAGRAPHS CHILDREN'S LETTERS TELEGRAMS THE LAW OF LETTERS THE COST OF A LETTER STATIONERY, CRESTS AND MONOGRAMS