Web Picks on Writing 06: Business Writing Q & A.

Question: Where can you find good information on business writing?

Answer: RayS: An excellent resource on the Internet is Lynn Gaertner-Johntson’s Q & A on business writing. She’s good. In this collection of newsletters, she answers questions about how to write clear, concise FAQ’s with good examples. Should you or shouldn’t you send e-mails ending in quotations? The uses of verb tenses in “minutes,” that is for meetings. Communicating with customers on airline flights to make them most comfortable. The principles are the same for all your customers. Don’t use emoticons—do use written expressions of emotion; includes many examples. Use the expression “sweating bullets”? Yes, if the reader is a native speaker of English. No, if the e-mail will be read by a person in a foreign country who will not understand its literal meaning. Capitalize “sales department”? Reflections on how she writes her column. Capitalizing salutations. A list of questions she has answered. Response to an intrusive question—how to frame the question tactfully. And all written in clear, smooth English. A good business writing Web site. The URL is listed below.

http://www.businesswritingblog.com/