Writing Course Outline

Here's a quick list of things I'd like to cover in a Business Writing class.
These are just my main ideas, and we can adjust and re-focus these according to your needs and desires.

1. Organization/ Overall Structure

A) First Paragraph -- should be short (2-4 sentences) and introduce the main idea.
(1) Who you are. Introduce yourself -- name plus company and position -- if necessary (ie. the reader doesn't know you already.
(2) What you want. The purpose of writing.
You can also reference any earlier communication if helpful.

B) Middle Paragraph(s) -- normal paragraphs should be around 3-6 sentences
In Business Writing, extra paragraphs are better than too few.

(1) Details. This is where you explain each idea in detail and explain things.
(2) Each paragraph should be begin with a general sentence that introduces what you will talk about, followed by details developing that idea.

C) Final Paragraph -- relatively short (2-4 sentences is good)
(1) Possibly a summary sentence -- useful if you have a lot of details
(2) Possibly a conclusion (often beginning with: "So ..." or "Therefore ...")
(3) Future Action: Who needs to Do What, by When.
Usually you want the other party to do something, but maybe You need to do sth.
Try to be specific about the deadline when you need something done.
(4) Polite Closing Sentence
(ie. Thank you for your time and cooperation)

A good email should allow you to quickly look at the 1st paragraph and know the main idea.
Then you can skip to the last paragraph and see what's the next step. Details in the middle.


2. Formal and Informal Writing

How formal writing should be depends on who is receiving it, the way you want to present yourself, and the contents. So one simple rule is: know your audience.

We can cover formal word choice and business words.
Words such as "deal with" and "handle" are nice business verbs.
It's always a good idea to master specific terminology that relates to your company and job.
One or two formal words in a sentence usually are enough to make the sentence appropriately formal. If you use too many big words, the meaning will often be less clear.

Business Writing = Direct, clear, well-ordered and with enough details

Exercise: One way to practice formal/informal writing is to take a piece of writing that is formal and re-write it in informal language. The same can be done in reverse. We can also take something informal and practice re-writing it into business English.


3. The Quick Way to Improve Your Writing (works for speaking too)

Figure out what mistakes you are making. I can help alot with that.
In English, nouns and verbs are the most important words in a sentence.
So focus on getting those right.
My advice is to focus on one "big" mistake at a time.
For example, if you make mistakes with verb tense (past/present/future/etc.), I'd recommend that you proofread your writing by checking all of your verbs. Verbs are relatively easy to find, as there is one right in the beginning of the sentence and probably a second one mid-ay through for longer sentences.
Look at the verb and ask yourself when.
You can also help yourself by beginning a sentence with a when phrase
(ie. Yesterday, I .... or Next week, I ....)
If you use verbs and nouns correctly, your English will improve quickly.
A good sentence starts with a good subject and verb.


4. Vocabulary

A) If you want to use good vocabulary, I'd suggest use good action verbs.
Action makes a sentence seem more lively and interesting.

B) Most words in English have various forms -- noun, verb, adjective, etc.
(ie. to vary, a variation, various, a variety, variegated, variously)
It's good and easy to learn a few forms of a word, so that you can make sentences better.
This is the fastest and best way to increase your vocabulary.

C) Use an English dictionary.
Translating can be helpful and fast, but if you want to understand the meaning of an English word, it is best to understand its meaning in English. The example sentence can also help with common usage. When using an English dictionary, you might still want/need to check a translation dictioanry as well. You don't have to use an English dictionary all the time. But if you can start using it sometime, this will improve your Englsih alot. Also gives you more English practice.

D) We can do some drills taking sentences and replacing words with alternative words.


5. Proofreading

A) Spell-check and Grammar-check.
You should use these for all your English writing (unfortunately, this blog doesn't have either).
This is like having a teacher/editor in your computer.
of course, the computer doesn't actually understand English, so use your judgment in making corrections.

B) A big problem is that when people read their own writing, they think it says what they want it to say. Try to get some distance from your own thoughts, so that you can read your writing more objectively. If time allows, write something in the morning, go to lunch and come back to it in the afternoon. Or do a draft in the afternoon and come back the next day. If it is urgent and important, maybe ask a colleague to read it over quickly.

C) Do a quick check on all headings and sections.
Make sure that you've used the same format throughout (especially with regard to Capitalization, Bold, Underline, Numbering, etc.).

D) Follow some simple general rules.
If a sentence looks very long, your first thought should be dividing it into two (or more) sentences.
If two very short sentences are next to each other, your first thought should be whether they can be combined.
If a paragraph looks too long (especially if more than 5 or 6 sentences), look to see if it can divided.
Big blocks of type are boring and difficult to read.

E) Check your verbs. Subject-verb agreement. Verb tense. Action verbs, plus good vocabulary.