Module: 3

Writing is a of communicating a message for a

purpose.
Writing reveals ones ability to think clearly
and to use language effectively.
A manager is responsible for variety of written
communications such as replies to clients,
enquires, memos recording agreements,
proposals for contracts, formal or informal
reports to initiate action and so on.
A manager should be able to convey
information, ideas, instructions, decisions and
welfare proposals in written form, in keeping
with the level of the people who receive and
read them.
Writing skills are essential as the other
knowledge and skills that form your
professional qualifications and requirements.
Effective writing does not come by chance.
It requires a set of skills to write simply,
clearly, accurately, and briefly.
The first task or writing effectively is to
identify the purpose of communication.
There are mainly two purposes of
communication in business situations
To inform
To persuade
When the writer seeks to give information and
offers to explain it, the writing is called
informative writing.
The focus of informative writing is on the
matter under discussion.
Informative writing is found in accounts of
facts, scientific data, statistics, and technical
and business reports
Informative writing presents information not
opinions.
Its purpose is to inform(educate) and to
persuade
Does it focus on the subject under discussion?
Does it primarily inform rather than persuade
the reader?
Does it offer complete and exact information?
Can the information be persuadin?
Does it present information logically and
clearly?
Does it make good reading?

Persuasive writing aims at convincing the
reader about a matter, which is debatable.
It expresses opinion rather than facts.
Persuasive writing focuses on the reader.
Persuasive writing does more than just state an
opinion.
FORD Built for the Road Ahead
TOYOTA - Touch The Perfection
BMW The Ultimate Driving Machine
TATA Indicom - Business Without Limits




Does it focus on the reader?
Does it basically seek to convince rather than
inform?
Does it support its viewpoint by giving
information or valid reasons?
Does it clearly follow a logical arrangement of
thought and reasoning?
Does it finally evoke the intended response
from the reader?
The second task for effective writing is to
recognize the needs, expectations, fears, and
attitudes of the audience/receiver and the
reader of the written message.
A manager works out some scheme, a scientist
or an engineer does a job. As the doer he/she
is clear about what he/she in his/her mind.
But the moment he/she takes up a pen and
starts writing to communicate his/her ideas,
he/she overlooks the fact that the structure of
his/her thoughts has to follow the structure of
language, that is to say, the structure of
sentences, paragraphs and the whole
composition.

As a writer he/she has to follow the principles
of unity and coherence that binds words into
sentences, sentences into units or paragraphs,
and paragraphs into essays.
Effectiveness of written communication is
achieved by following the principles of
Accuracy
Brevity
Clarity

To be accurate you should check and double
check all information for
Facts, figures, and words
Language and tone
Correctness of words : is determined by the
appropriateness of words for the subject,
audience, and purpose of a particular piece of
writing
Technical accuracy of language
1. Concord the rule of agreement between words in
gender, number, case or person
2. Dangling modifier as the phrase suggests, is a
word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly
mentioned in the sentence
3. Unnecessary shift in tenses
4. Preposition
Punctuation
Words often confused when writing
Concord is agreement in gender, case, number
or person between different words that share a
reference. For example, if a sentence contains a
proper noun "Paul" and somewhat later a
pronoun "he," and they refer to the same
person, we say that they agree in number (for
both are singular) and gender (for both are
masculine).
What Is a Dangling Modifier?
A dangling modifier isnt as scary as it sounds. A
modifier is a descriptive word or group of words
giving important information about another word
or group of words in a sentence. The modifier
describes, or modifies, the other word or words.
In a way, a modifier logically attaches itself to the
word or words its modifying.
Heres an example:
Tall and handsome, the mysterious stranger
looked like a movie star.
The describing phrasetall and handsome
logically attaches itself to the words it modifies
the mysterious stranger. When we read the
sentence, we know who is tall and handsome (the
mysterious stranger). Theres a logical connection
or attachment between the modifying words and
whats being modified.

Why Modifiers Dangle
A dangling modifier is created when the logical
connection or attachment doesnt happen. When the
connection isnt there, the modifier hangs, or dangles,
by itself in the sentence. The modifier doesnt have
anything to hook up with in the sentence.
Can you spot the problem in this next example? Look
for a logical connection between the modifying group
of words at the beginning of the sentence and another
word or words in the sentence. If the logical connection
is missing, then youve got a dangling modifier.
Upon hearing the news, Rebeccas response was
immediate.
When we read the modifying words Upon hearing the
news, we expect the next word in the sentence to tell us
who heard the news. But the next wordsRebeccas
responsedont have that logical connection to the
modifying words. A response cant hear. So Upon
hearing the news is a dangling modifier.

Heres one way to revise the sentence to fix the
dangling modifier:
Upon hearing the news, Rebecca responded
immediately.

Dangling modifiers frequently turn up at the beginning
of a sentence as a group of words used to introduce the
sentence. Watch out for a phrase that begins with an
ed or ing word, or words like although, before, in, to,
when, while, or with.
Dangling: Working overtime, the project was finished
by the deadline. (The project didnt work overtime.)
Revised: Working overtime, we finished the project by
the deadline.
Dangling: Before she became ill, Claires life was
comfortable and satisfying. (Claire, not her life, became
ill.)
Revised: Before she became ill, Claire enjoyed a
comfortable, satisfying life.

A dangling modifier can also pop up at the end
of a sentence.
Dangling: The Golden Gate Bridge came into
view flying over the city. (The bridge wasnt
flying.)
Revised: The Golden Gate Bridge came into
view as we flew over the city.
Dangling: The test was difficult, not having
studied enough. (The test didnt study.)
Revised: The test was difficult for me because I
didnt study enough.

Naming the five best movies of last year was easy.
Ninety percent of the movies I see are lousy, and
that leaves only a handful that are even worth
considering.
Here, the sentence unnecessarily shifts from the
simple past tense ("Naming . . . was easy") to simple
present ("the movies I see") to present progressive
("are even worth considering").
Revision: Naming the five best movies of last year
was easy. Ninety percent of the movies I saw were
lousy, and that left only a handful that were even
worth considering.

A preposition describes a relationship between
other words In a sentence.
Prepositions of Time: at, on, and in
We use at to designate specific times.
The train is due at 12:15 p.m.
We use on to designate days and dates.
My brother is coming on Monday.
We're having a party on the Fourth of July.
We use in for nonspecific times during a day, a
month, a season, or a year.
She likes to jog in the morning.
It's too cold in winter to run outside.
He started the job in 1971.
He's going to quit in August.

Prepositions of Place: at, on, and in
We use at for specific addresses.
Grammar English lives at 55 Boretz Road in
Durham.
We use on to designate names of streets, avenues,
etc.
Her house is on Boretz Road.
And we use in for the names of land-areas (towns,
counties, states, countries, and continents).
She lives in Durham.
Durham is in Windham County.
Windham County is in Connecticut.

Period [.]: The period is the most basic
punctuation mark. Its function is to separate
one sentence from another. It should be used at
the end of a complete sentence.
a) Paris is the capital of France.
b) He was born in Hungary, but now he lives in
England.
The period is also used to show that certain
words are abbreviated.
a) He works from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
b) There are a lot of places to visit in the U.K.

Comma [,]: The comma is usually used to separate
words, phrases, or part sentences.
a) Mary bought a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a handbag.
b) He came home, changed his clothes, and went out with his
friends.
c) When he was driving to work, he realized that he left his
briefcase at home.
An insertion in a sentence has to be enclosed in
commas.
a) Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning queen of England, is making
a royal visit to Australia.
Commas are also used after interjections such as yes,
no, and please.
a) Yes, I think we have met before.

Colon [:]: The function of the colon is to expand a
sentence and make it more elaborate. For instance:
a) There are many different types of fruits in the basket: apples,
pears, bananas, oranges, melons, and others.
b) One thing is for sure: he is not going to concede defeat.
Semi-Colon [;]: The semi-colon is used to combine two
closely related sentences into one sentence when a
period or a connecting word with a comma seems
inappropriate.
a) I took the children to the zoo today; they havent been there
before.
b) This is the final test; every other requirement has been met.
Semi-colons are also applied in sentences that are
already separated with commas.
a) David has three children, and they are Jane, who is seven
years old; Bill, who is four years old; and Joseph, who is two
years old.

Apostrophe []: The apostrophe is usually used with an
s to denote possession. When a noun does not end
with the letter s, the apostrophe has to be followed
by an s (s). For plural nouns or names that end with
s, only the apostrophe has to be added.
a) Georges book
b) childrens toys
c) peoples lives
d) kings treasures
e) James mother
An apostrophe is also used to join two words together.
a) Its raining.
b) He wouldnt tell the truth.
c) They arent going to the mall.
d) Shell never believe you.

Question Mark [?]: A question mark is used at the end
of a sentence to indicate that a question is being asked.
a) Are you leaving now?
b) How are you going to solve the problem?
Exclamation Mark [!]: An exclamation mark is used to
make a sentence more emphatic. It can indicate
warning, excitement, astonishment, or disgust.
a) Look out!
b) Oh, my God!
c) How wonderful!
d) I hate you!
e) Thats fantastic!

Hypen [-]: The hyphen is used with prefixes and suffixes for many
different purposes.
a) re-enact
b) pre-war
c) anti-government
d) ex-husband
e) president-elect
f) self-improvement
g) multi-purpose
h) all-conquering
Hyphens are also used to create compound words and join
numbers to express quantity.
a) father-in-law
b) stand-in
c) on-site
d) up-to-date
e) devil-may-care
f) twenty-two
g) fifty-eight
Hyphens can also join a number and a word. For example,
5minuteenglish will become 5-minute English.

Dash [-]: A dash is used to denote a pause or a change
of thought in a sentence.
a) The performance was impressive a really great show.
b) The necessary preparations the food, costumes, and
decoration are all made.
c) The job was supposed to take only ten minutes maybe even
five but he took half an hour to complete it.
Parentheses [( )]: Parentheses are used to provide
explanation, comments, translation, or include dates.
a) I went skydiving (which was my first time) with my friends
last weekend.
b) The growth rate of the US population (currently about 300
million) is slowing down in recent years.
c) The town of Jerez is well-known for its bodegas (wine shops).
d) Thomas Edison (1847 1931) was a prolific American
inventor.

Perhaps one of the most treacherous areas for
writers is in word choice. The difficulty comes in
the transition from speaking to writing. Words that
sound alike or somewhat alike but are spelled
differently can cause significant confusion when
its time to write them down.
Affect, Effect:
Affect is a verb meaning to influence.
Good writing affects people in profound ways.
Effect is usually a noun meaning result.
* The effect of bad writing is also profound, but not in a
good way.
Accept, Except:
Accept is a verb. (to take possession of)
The writers in my class sometimes struggle to accept
constructive criticism gracefully.
Except is most often a preposition, meaning
excluding.
Everyone submitted an essay to the contest except
you.
Except is, on occasion, a verb meaning to exclude.
Will they except those writers from the list of
participants.

Brevity consists in saying only what needs to
be said and leaving out unnecessary words or
details
Brevity is not to be achieved at the cost of
clarity
Nor brevity is to be gained by sacrificing
proper English.
Language and tone
Level of formality
Informal (slang, colloquialism Ex. such as y'all,
gonna, and wanna)
Semi formal
Strictly formal (positive language, revision)
You-Attitude
Natural language
Choose Active voice
Purposeful: it solves problems and conveys
information

Economical: it is concise

Reader-oriented: it focuses on the receiver, not the
sender
Phase 1(Pre-Writing): analyzing, anticipating, adapting

Phase 2(Writing): researching, organizing, composing

Phase 3(Revising): revising, proofreading, evaluating
Analyze:
Define your purpose
Select the most appropriate channel
Visualize the audience

Anticipate:
Put yourself in the readers position and predict his/her reactions to
the message

Adapt:
Shape message to benefit reader

Research:
Collect data formally and informally

Organize:
Group ideas into a list or outline; choose a strategy

Compose:
Write a first draft; consider using a word processor
Revise: for clarity, tone, and vigor; improve
readability

Proofread: for spelling, grammar, punctuation and
format; check overall appearance

Evaluate: Will the final product achieve its
purpose?
Analyze the task by identifying the purpose
and selecting the best channel

Anticipate the audience by visualizing primary
and secondary readers
Face-to-face
Persuasive
Deliver Bad News
Share a Personal Message

Telephone Call
Deliver/Gather Information Quickly
Nonverbal Cues Unimportant
Cant Meet in Person



Voice Mail Message
Leave Important or Routine Message for
Respondent to Reply at Convenience
Fax
Message crosses Time Zones or
International Boundaries
Written record is Needed
Sense of UrgencySpeed is important


E-mail
Feedback Needednot Immediate
Effective with Large, Dispersed Audience
Lack of Securitynot for emotional, personal or
private messages



Face-to-face Group Meeting
Group Decisions and Consensus Important

Video or Teleconferencing
Group Decisions and Consensus Important
Members are Geographically Dispersed


Memo
Provides Written Record
Explain Policies, Discuss Procedures, & Collect Information
Within Organization Internal Document
Letter
Provides Written Record
Correspondence with: Customers, Government, Suppliers or
others outside External Document

Report or Proposal
Deliver Complex Data or Information
Internally or Externally
Use reader benefits: the warranty starts working
immediately
Cultivate you attitude: you will receive your order
Use sensitive language avoiding gender, race, age and
disability biases: office workers
Express thoughts positively: you will be happy to
Use precise, vigorous words: fax me, e-mail me
Use familiar words: salary not remuneration

Reader Benefits: Receiver-Focused Vs. Sender-
Focused

You Attitude: You View Vs. I and/or We
View
E.g.
Sender-focused: We are requiring all staffers
to complete these forms in compliance with
company policy.
Receiver-focused: Please complete these forms
so that you will be eligible for health and dental
benefits.
I/We: We take pleasure in announcing an agreement
we made with HP to allow us to offer discounted printers
in the student store.
You: An agreement with HP allows you and other
students to buy discounted printers at your convenient
student store.
I/ We: We are issuing a
refund.

You: You will receive a
refund.
Formal Research Methods

Informal Methods
Look in files
Speak with Boss/Colleagues etc.
Speak with Target Audience
Conduct an informal survey

Brainstorming


Lists and Outlines
Alphanumeric
Decimal

Organize Ideas into Patterns
Direct Pattern receptive audience
Indirect Pattern unreceptive audience
Use the Active voice in most sentences: We lost
money.
Use the passive voice to de-emphasize the
performer and/or to be tactful: Money was lost by us.
Emphasize important points
Put main ideas first, using them as subjects
Put them in short sentences



Discuss only one topic
Group similar ideas together
Start a new paragraph for each new topic
Arrange sentences in one of the strategic formats
Direct Plan: main sentence followed by supporting sentences to
define, classify, illustrate or describe
Indirect Plan: supporting sentences, main sentence to explain
or persuade
Link ideas to build coherence
Repeat idea or rephrase it
Use a pronoun: these, this etc.


Use transitional expressions: additionally, however, as
a result, also, for example etc.

Compose short paragraphs: fewer than eight lines
Keep it simple
Keep it conversational
Remove opening fillers
Eliminate redundancies
Apply graphics
Measure readability

Keep it simple: avoid indirect pompous language
E.g. It would not be inadvisable for you to affix your
signature at this point in time.
I.e. You may sign now.

Keep it conversational:

Formal: Our Accounting Department takes this
opportunity to inform you that we have credited
your account with the aforementioned amount.

Conversational: Were pleased to credit your
account for $100.

Remove Opening Fillers
Wordy: There are four new menu items that we must
promote.
Improved: We must promote four new menu items.
Eliminate Redundancies: collect together, contributing
factor, personal opinion etc.
Reduce Compound Prepositions
at such time, at which timewhen
due to the fact that, inasmuch asbecause



Dump Trite Business Phrases
Wordy: Pursuant to your request, enclosed please find a job
application.
Improved: As requested, we have enclosed a job application.
Develop Parallelism: balanced construction
Not parallel: We can collect information, store it, and later it can
be updated.
Parallel: We can collect, store and update information.

Apply Graphic Highlighting
Letters, such as (a) and (b) within the text
Numerals, like 1, 2 and 3 listed vertically
Bullets
Headings using Print options
CAPITAL LETTERS
Underscores
Boldface
Italics
Font size
Spelling
Grammar
Punctuation
Names and numbers
Format
Print a copypreferably double-spaced
Set it aside for a breather
Allow adequate time for careful proofreading
Congratulate yourself when finding errors
Read the message at least twicefor meaning
and grammar/mechanics
Reduce reading speedfocus on each word
How successful will this communication be?
Does the message say what you want it to?
Will it achieve its purpose?
How will you know if it succeeds?
Did you obtain the intended feedback?