Handbook for Business Writing

L. Sue Baugh, Maridell Fryar, David Thomas


Bibliographic record and links to related information available from the Library of Congress catalog
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How to Use This Handbook

Section I Business Writing Today

   Chapter 1 Three Steps to Effective Writing
   Step One: Prewriting-3 Step Two: Writing
   Step Three: Revising-6 Summary

   Chapter 2 Choosing the Right Word
   Business Vocabulary-9 Words Frequently
   Confused - 1 1 Gender-Inclusive Language

Section 2 Effective Business Letters

   Chapter 3   Business Letter Format
   Functions of Business Letters-18 Parts of a Business
   Letter-19 Format for Business Letters

   Chapter 4 Style in Business Letters
   Watch Your Language-30 Clarity
   Brevity-38 Use Adverbs and Adjectives Sparingly
   Accuracy-40 Tone-41 Sentences
   Paragraphs

   Chapter 5 Organizing and Writing Business Letters
   Step One: Prewriting-49 Step Two: Writing
   Step Three: Revising

   Chapter 6 Producing the Business Letter
   Stationery-66 Inside Address
   Complimentary Close-72 Signature Block
   Reference Lines-75 Stenographic Reference
   Line-76 Enclosure Line-77 Copies Line
   Postscripts-80 Addressing the Envelope

   Chapter 7 Sample Business Letters
   Adjustment Letters-85 Claim Letters
   Collection Letters-88 Credit Letters
   Goodwill or Public Relations Letters
   Letters to Government Agencies and the Press
   Inquiry Letters-102 Request Letters
   Refusal Letters-107 Sales Letters
   Social Business Letters-110 Transmittal or Cover
   Letters

Section 3 Dictation, Memos, Form Messages

   Chapter 8 Mastering Dictation
   Step One: Preparation-120 Step Two: Dictating
   Techniques-121 Step Three:Revising

   Chapter 9 Memos and Form Messages
   Memos- 125 Step One: Prewriting
   Step Two: Writing-128 Step Three: Revising and
   Proofreading-134 Other Form Messages

Section 4 Special Writing and Research Projects

   Chapter 10 Business Report Writing
   Step One: Prewriting-143 Step Two: Writing
   Step Three: Revising

   Chapter 11 Proposals and Press Releases
   Proposals-160 Step One: Prewriting
   Step Two:Writing-162 Step Three: Revising
   Press Releases-167 Step One: Prewriting
   Step Two: Writing-168 StepThree: Revising

   Chapter 12 Finding Business Information
   Libraries- 174 Computer-Assisted Research
   Sources of Business Information-178 Resources for
   Business Problems

Section 5 Business Writing and the Job Search

   Chapter 13 Resumes, Applications, Employment Letters
   Identifying Your Abilities, Interests, and Skills
   Background Research-Job Sources-183 Preparing
   Your Resume -185 Completing Employment
   Applications-189 Employment Letters

Section 6 Automation and the Information Age

   Chapter 14 Communication in the Electronic Office
   Computers and the Human Element-208 Computer
   Components-209 Word Processing & Desktop
   Publishing-213 Information Processing
   Telecommunications & Computer Networks

Section 7 Review of Business Grammar and Style

   Chapter 15 Parts of Speech
   Nouns-220 Pronouns-21-3 Verbs
   Adjectives-236 Adverbs
   Prepositions-240 Conjunctions
   Interjections

   Chapter 16 Sentences and Sentence Patterns
   Sentences, Fragments, and Run-Ons-246 Sentence
   Structure-248 Sentence Variety

   Chapter 17 Punctuation and Punctuation Style
   End Punctuation Marks
   Comma-255 Semicolon-258 Colon
   Quotation Marks-261 Apostrophe
   Hyphens-265 Dashes-266 Parentheses
   Brackets-267 Ellipses-267 Underscore

   Chapter 18 Capitalization, Abbreviations, Numbers
   Capitalization-270 Abbreviations
   Numbers

   Chapter 19 Spelling
   Spelling Guidelines-283 Frequently Misspelled
   Words-287 Word Division 293
   Index