Includes bibliographical references and index.

"The phrase "rule of thumb" refers to a handy guideline: The top part of your thumb is roughly an inch long. Sometimes you need a ruler marked in milimeters, but often you can do fine by measuring with just your thumb. Your thumb takes only a second to use, and it's always with you.

Rules of Thumb for Business Writers is the third book in a series written by the three of us. The first book, published originally in 1989 and now in the fourth edition, is Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers. Rules of Thumb for Research was published in the fall of 1998. We wanted to call your attention to the other books because Rules of Thumb for Business Writers follows the same basic concepts as our prior books. Our aim has been to create handbooks that writers can use on their own - handbooks that are brief and readable, covering the main writing problems most people have trouble with.

We've made Rules of Thumb for Business Writers the same sort of guide. You can use it out of order, in small doses, to find what you want when you need to solve a specific writing problem, whether in the office, on the job, or at home. We've covered most of the basic writing problems that you will face on a regular basis and have also included guidelines for writing the most common kinds of documents used in business writing.

In this book, you will find some points that have to be exactly right, and in those cases, we've given the complete details. However, where we could, we've given you a rule of thumb - a brief guide that you can use quickly any time you need to compose a good piece of business writing." (A Note from the Authors, p. xiii)

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

A Note from the Authors

PART ONE: THE WRITING PROCESS Writing in the Business World -- Finding Your Focus -- Sizing Up Your Work Style -- What to Do When You're Stuck -- Organizing Your Ideas -- Paragraphing -- Continuity -- Adding Visual Interest: Layout and Illustrations -- Revising -- Proofreading

PART TWO: WRITING WITH POWER Step Toward a Clear Style -- Writing to Persuade -- Writing with Energy -- Trimming Wordiness -- Grammar Review: Common Sentence Patterns -- Avoiding Tangled Sentences -- Varying Your Sentences

PART THREE: SPECIFIC BUSINESS WRITING Guidelines for all Business Correspondence -- E-mail and Fax Messages -- Memos -- Letters -- Agendas and Minutes -- Instructions and Directions -- Reports -- Newsletters and Press Releases -- Proposals -- Résumés

PART FOUR: SPECIAL PROJECTS Research on the Intenet -- Crediting Outside Sources -- Recurring Projects -- Long-term Projects -- Collaborative Projects -- The Spoken Word -- Editing Other People's Drafts -- Writing for Others

PART FIVE: CORRECTNESS — USAGE Confusing Words -- One Word or Two? -- Spelling -- Capitalization -- Abbreviations and Numbers -- Correct Pronouns -- Consistent Pronouns -- Pronouns: Avoiding Vagueness -- Verbs: Agreement with Subjects -- Verbs: Consistent Tenses -- Words Éndings

PART SIX: CORRECTNESS — PUNCTUATION Periods: Avoiding Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences -- Commas -- Semicolons and Colons -- Dashes and Parentheses -- Hyphens -- Apostrophes -- Quotation Marks -- Italicizing (Underlining) or Quotation Titles

APPENDIX Sample Memo -- Sample Bad News Memo -- Sample Letter -- Sample Letter of Recommendation-- Sample Meeting Agenda -- Two Sample Press Releases -- Sample Cover Letter -- Sample Résumé (Emphasis on Accomplishments) -- Sample Résumé (Emphasis on Skills) -- Sample Résumé (Limited Experience) -- Sample Résumé (Significant Experience) -- The Anatomy of a Sentence: How to Diagram -- A List of Important References

Index