The Business Writer's Handbook, Ninth Edition

653 Pages·2008·5.94 MB·English

by  Gerald J. Alred

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The Five-Way Access System
The five-way access system of The Business Writer’s Handbook
provides readers with multiple ways of retrieving information:
1.Alphabetically Organized Entries
The alphabetically organized entries with color tabs enable
readers to find information quickly. Within the entries, terms
shown as links refer to other entries that contain definitions of
key concepts or further information on related topics.
2.Contents by Topic
The complete Contents by Topic, on the inside front cover,
groups the entries into categories and serves as a quick refer-
ence for finding all topics covered in the book. The Contents
by Topic allows a writer focusing on a specific task or problem
to locate helpful entries; it is also useful for instructors who
want to correlate the Handbook with standard textbooks or
their own course materials. The list of Commonly Misused
Words and Phrases extends this topical key by listing all the
usage entries in the book.
3.Checklistof the Writing Process
The Checklist helps readers to reference all writing-process-
related entries.
4.Comprehensive Index
The Index lists all the topics covered in the book, including
subtopics within the main entries in the alphabetical arrange-
ment.
5.Model Documents and Figures by Topic
The list of Model Documents and Figures by Topic, on the in-
side back cover, makes it easier to find the abundant “real-
world” examples and sample documents throughout the text
that provide models for effective business communication.
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Contents by Topic
Use this list as a quick reference for finding entries by topic. To search
this book in more detail, see the Index.
Business Writing Documents Memos 325
and Elements Reference Letters 454
Refusal Letters 454
Business Plans 61 Sales Letters 496
Description 130
FAQs (Frequently Asked
Questions) 193 Job Search and Application
Forms 229 Acceptance / Refusal Letters
Indexing 261 (for Employment) 9
Instructions 267 Application Letters 38
Job Descriptions 292 Interviewing for a Job 280
Mission Statements 330 Job Search 294
Policies and Procedures 385 Resignation Letters 470
Process Explanation 405 Résumés 473
Promotional Writing 408 Salary Negotiations 494
Brochures 58
Newsletter Articles 340
Newsletters 342 Design and Visuals
Press Releases 402
Layout and Design 299
Sales Letters 496
Forms 229
Proposals 417
Headers and Footers 253
Questionnaires 442
Headings 254
Report Components Lists 313
Abstracts 7 Visuals 550
Appendixes 38
Drawings 168
Conclusions 104
Flowcharts 201
Executive Summaries 191
Global Graphics 242
Glossaries 244
Graphs 247
Introductions 284
Maps 317
Tables of Contents 524
Organizational Charts 361
Titles 532
Photographs 378
Reports 459 Tables 524
Annual Reports 33 Web Design 559
Feasibility Reports 195
Formal Reports 206
Investigative Reports 288 Presentations and Meetings
Progress and Activity Reports 405
Trip Reports 538 Listening 311
Trouble Reports 538 Meetings 319
Writing for the Web 566 Minutes of Meetings 328
Presentations 393
Correspondence
Research and Documentation
Acknowledgment Letters 11
Adjustment Letters 16 Bibliographies 52
Collection Letters 83 Brainstorming 57
Complaint Letters 99 Copyright 111
Correspondence 112 Documenting Sources 139
Cover Letters (or Transmittals) 121 Interviewing for Information 277
E-mail 175 Note-Taking 346
Form Letters 204 Paraphrasing 371
Inquiries and Responses 263 Plagiarism 382
Instant Messaging 265 Questionnaires 442
International Correspondence 272 Quotations 450
Letters 305 Research 461
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Organization,Writing, Biased Language 50
and Revision Clauses 79
Comma Splice 88
Blogs 53 Commas 89
Collaborative Writing 81 Double Negatives 167
Description 130 English as a Second Language 182
Ethics in Writing 188 Gender 238
Exposition 192 Idioms 259
Global Communication 240 Mood 336
Logic Errors 314 Nouns 348
Methods of Development 327 Number (Grammar) 350
Cause-and-Effect 75 Numbers 351
Chronological 76
Periods 374
Comparison 96
Phrases 379
Definition 128
Division-and-Classification 136 Plagiarism 382
General and Specific 239 Point of View 384
Order-of-Importance 357 Possessive Case 388
Sequential 512 Prepositions 391
Spatial 516 Pronouns 410
Narration 338 Quotation Marks 448
Organization 360 Run-on Sentences 492
Outlining 361 Sentence Construction 503
Persuasion 376 Sentence Fragments 509
Preparation 390 Spelling 516
Audience 46 Style 516
Brainstorming 57
Syntax 523
Context 108
Tense 527
Purpose 439
Readers 453 Transition 535
Scope 498 Verbals 544
Selecting the Medium 198 Verbs 547
Proofreading 415 Voice 555
Repurposing 460
Revision 490 ESLTips
Writing a Draft 565
Assigning Gender 238
Avoiding Shifts in Voice, Mood,
Digital Tips
or Tense 549
Conducting Meetings from Remote Choosing Voice 558
Locations 321 Determining Mood 336
Creating an Index 262 Punctuating Numbers 353
Creating an Outline 364 Stating an Opinion 385
Creating Styles and Templates 211 Understanding the Requirements
Incorporating Tracked Changes 492 of a Sentence 507
Leaving an Away-from-Desk Understanding the Subject
Message 179 of a Sentence 504
Preparing an ASCIIRésumé 489 Using Adjectives 15
Proofreading for Format Using Articles 44
Consistency 416 Using Possessive Pronouns 412
Reviewing Collaborative Using the Progressive Form 530
Documents 82
Sending an E-mail Attachment 177 Style and Language
Testing Your Web Site 560
Style 516
Using PDFFiles 569
Affectation 22
Wikis for Collaborative Documents 81 Allusions 30
Ambiguity 31
ESLTrouble Spots Awkwardness 48
Biased Language 50
Adjectives 12
Business Writing Style 65
Agreement 23 Clarity 77
Articles 43 Clichés 80
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Style (cont.) Paragraphs 366
Comparison 96 Articles 43
Conciseness 102 Coherence 80
Contractions 111 Prepositions 391
Defining Terms 126 Pronouns 410
Direct Address 135 Transition 535
Double Negatives 167 Unity 542
Emphasis 180
English, Varieties of 186 Parts of Speech and Grammar
Euphemisms 190
Expletives 192 Grammar 246
Figures of Speech 199 Agreement 23
Gobbledygook 245 Case 71
Idioms 259 English as a Second Language 182
Intensifiers 271 Gender 238
Jargon 292 Mood 336
Nominalizations 345 Number (Grammar) 350
Pace 366 Person 375
Parallel Structure 369 Possessive Case 388
Point of View 384 Pronoun Reference 409
Positive Writing 387 Tense 527
Repetition 458 Voice 555
Rhetorical Questions 492 Parts of Speech 373
Sentence Variety 510 Adjectives 12
Subordination 520 Adverbs 19
Telegraphic Style 526 Articles 43
Tone 535 Conjunctions 107
“You” Viewpoint 570 Functional Shift 235
Word Choice 564 Interjections 272
Abstract / Concrete Words 6 Nouns 348
Antonyms 37 Prepositions 391
Buzzwords 66 Pronouns 410
Connotation / Denotation 108 Verbals 544
Dictionaries 132 Verbs 547
Foreign Words in English 203
Malapropisms 317 Punctuation and Mechanics
Synonyms 522
Mechanics
Thesaurus 531
Abbreviations 2
Vague Words 544
Acronyms and Initialisms 12
Ampersands 32
Capitalization 68
Usage
Compound Words 101
See pages 542–43. Contractions 111
Dates 125
Italics 288
Sentences and Paragraphs Numbers 351
Prefixes 390
Sentence Construction 503 Proofreaders’ Marks 414
Appositives 43 Spelling 516
Clauses 79 Suffixes 522
Complements 100 Punctuation 439
Expletives 192 Apostrophes 37
Modifiers 334 Brackets 56
Objects 355 Colons 86
Phrases 379 Commas 89
Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Dashes 124
Elements 472 Ellipses 174
Syntax 523 Exclamation Marks 190
Sentence Faults 508 Hyphens 256
Comma Splice 88 Parentheses 372
Dangling Modifiers 123 Periods 374
Garbled Sentences 237 Question Marks 441
Mixed Constructions 333 Quotation Marks 448
Run-on Sentences 492 Semicolons 502
Sentence Fragments 509 Slashes 514
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Aboutthe Authors
Gerald J. Alred is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–
Milwaukee, where he teaches courses in the Graduate Professional
Writing Program. He is author of numerous scholarly articles and sev-
eral standard bibliographies on business and technical communication.
He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Business Communication and a
recipient of the prestigious Jay R. Gould Award for “profound schol-
arly and textbook contributions to the teaching of business and techni-
cal writing.”
Charles T. Brusaw was a faculty member at NCR Corporation’s Man-
agement College, where he developed and taught courses in profes-
sional writing, editing, and presentation skills for the corporation
worldwide. Previously, he worked in advertising, technical writing, and
public relations. He has been a communications consultant, an invited
speaker at academic conferences, and a teacher of business writing at
Sinclair Community College.
Walter E. Oliu served as Chief of the Publishing Services Branch at the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where he managed the agency’s
printing, graphics, editing, and publishing programs. He also developed
the public-access standards for and managed daily operations of the
agency’s public Web site. He has taught at Miami University of Ohio,
Slippery Rock State University, and as an adjunct faculty member at
Montgomery College and George Mason University.
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The Business
Writer’s Handbook
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FOR BEDFORD/ST. MARTIN’S
Developmental Editors:Amy Hurd Gershman, Rachel Goldberg
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Cover Photo:Skyscraper© Frederic Cirou
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Printing and Binding:RR Donnelley & Sons Company
President:Joan E. Feinberg
Editorial Director:Denise B. Wydra
Editor in Chief:Karen S. Henry
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Director of Editing, Design, and Production:Marcia Cohen
Assistant Director of Editing, Design, and Production:Elise S. Kaiser
Manager, Publishing Services:Emily Berleth
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007943427
Copyright © 2009 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except as may be
expressly permitted by the applicable copyright statutes or in writing by
the Publisher.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
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f e d c b a
For information, write:Bedford/St. Martin’s, 75 Arlington Street,
Boston, MA 02116 (617-399-4000)
ISBN-10: 0-312-47709-0 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-47709-7 (paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-312-57510-6 (hardcover)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-57510-6 (hardcover)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Figure A–6. Adjustment Letter (When Company Is at Fault). Reprinted with the per-
mission of American Airlines, AMR Corporation, Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure B–1. Corporate Blog. From http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2007. Re-
printed with the permission of General Motors Corporation.
Acknowledgments and copyrights are continued at the back of the book on page 572,
which constitutes an extension of the copyright page.
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Ninth Edition
The Business
Writer’s Handbook
Gerald J. Alred
Charles T. Brusaw
Walter E. Oliu
Bedford/St.Martin’s Boston ◆ New York
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