Writing a business letter

[hopper]

Hello everyone!
I have a problem. I'm teaching a course called writing for business and it deals with business correspondance. Now, the problem is this - there is no consistant model to go with. For example, I'm using a book called Company to Company by Andrew Littlejohn. It's really good but what he calls the block style is different to what the Online Writing Lab at Purdue suggests, which is different again to what some other, less known online sources offer. What is even more frustrating is that these models are different to what I learned about the block style in school. For example, my students ask me "Does the sender's address go on the right or left?" I say left, above the addressee's address but other documents say otherwise. Can anybody out there help me before I go mental?
Thanks in advance, Hopper in Finland

[gringuita]

There are legitimate variations in style. I also teach business letter writing. What I tell my students is that I will teach them one style, and that is the style they will use in class (I use block too). I let them know there are variations and that they might/will learn about them in the real world. But if they know one style well, they can learn the others as variations off the elements we have taught them.

[Lorikeet]

I agree with Gringuita. We use business letters as part of our class in ESL Computers (a bridge to our Business Department.) We have a couple different styles. If you get a job in a business and have to write letters, I am sure they will have a style sheet you can use. If not, you would be free to use whichever style you prefer. One style has everything on the left, and doesn't even indent paragraphs. One has the return address lined up with the closing and the name on the right side and indents paragraphs. I've also seen combinations of both.

[emile]

Don't forget that in reality, they will probably be sending emails, not letters. I find that books like Company to Company put to much emphasis on letters. Otherwise, they will be likely to use letterheads.

Emile

[revel]

Good morning all.

I think the operative word in this discussion is "style".

A journalist student will study different types of journalistic style while in school; however, once he/she has landed a job and is aspiring towards a by-line, he/she will probably have to pour over the style-book of the company that pays him/her for writing/reporting.

Style is a personal matter, so a style in business writing will either depend on what is established by the boss or the head secretary. If no style is established or formatted into the word processing program at the office, then the writer would have to use a more or less standard style learned in some business class (I did not learn letter-writing style in a writing class, for example, but rather in Typing-one, on an IBM Selectric, remember those machine-gun-like machines?). Knowing one or even two styles helps to understand style in general, knowing that a business might have their own standardized style helps to keep one's job in the company.

Teach the easiest style, probably the block style, and teach that it is a basis. Then get on with making sure that the sentences are well constructed, that the flow of the letter communicates. The style is a framework, be it a visual question or a word-choice question. Writing the letter itself, communicating just how many text-books you want and on what date you want them and how much you expect to pay for them is the true end of writing a business letter, not the style employed. The style should contribute to the communication but should not supercede it.

peace,
revel.

[Andrew Patterson]

There are variations in style, but there are certain things that don't change.

The sender's address is always in the top right corner unless company stationary is being used with the company logo and fancy writing in which case it may be right across the top. Street names should never be translated into English if the latin alphabet is used. The point of the return address is so that you can send something back so there's no point in confusing the postman. Never write a person's name above the address, but if it's coming from a company, the company's name is obligatory.

The addressee is always on the left below the sender's address again if it isn't an English address but uses the latin alphabet, it shouldn't be translated. The name and position of the person you're writing to go above this.

The date seems to move about. Personally, I put it one line below the sender's address on the right and drop down a line on the left from it for the addressee.

After the salutation the main part can begin flush to the left margin or under the comma. Directly underneath, or one line down.

The signing off can be done flush to the left margin or in the centre one or several lines down.

[Lorikeet]

There are variations in style, but there are certain things that don't change.

The sender's address is always in the top right corner unless company stationary is being used with the company logo and fancy writing in which case it may be right across the top.

I thought the whole point of "block style" was to put everything at the left margin, including the sender's address, which is then no longer in the top right corner. Another indication of "style".

The date seems to move about. Personally, I put it one line below the sender's address on the right and drop down a line on the left from it for the addressee.

I've always seen the date directly after the sender's address, and then there are three or four lines down to the addressee, depending on the length of the letter. (A short letter looks better with the full 4 lines, but a long letter might have fewer to allow for it all fitting on one page.)

After the salutation the main part can begin flush to the left margin or under the comma. Directly underneath, or one line down.

I have never seen it begin under the comma. I have seen both flush with the left margin, or using a tab to indent the paragraphs as part of it.

The signing off can be done flush to the left margin or in the centre one or several lines down.

I have only seen the signing off done flush to the left margin in block style, or written even with the return address on the right side--never in the center--leaving enough lines for a signature to fit.

I'd have to read your company's style sheet before I typed a letter there--clearly I'd be using a different style.