All posts by Sigrid Macdonald

Uncategorized

How to Write a Smashing E-Mail: Part Five

1 Comment

Keep your e-mails short and to the point. Most e-mails can be summed up within one window pane. If yours goes beyond that, reread it to make sure the extra length is essential. Not everything can be abbreviated, but respect other people’s time and the state of their inbox. However, you want to include all pertinent information so that you don’t create an e-mail chain where your note has created more confusion than clarity.

For example, if you’re announcing a book signing, or a business meeting, make sure you have all the relevant information in your note, so people don’t have to write back several times to ask questions. That creates more work for everyone. Always ask yourself when you’re writing, “Am I saying what I want to say in the least amount of words?” If not, kill your darlings. Delete unnecessary content.

Sigrid Macdonald is an editor, a manuscript evaluator, and the author of three books, including the newly released Be Your Own Editor. Find it on Amazon in paperback (http://tinyurl.com/2a3zx6t) or on Kindle (http://tinyurl.com/2blyqng). Or contact sigridmac@rogers.com for a 20% discount off the regular $17.95 price.

Uncategorized

How to Write a Smashing E-Mail: Part Four

1 Comment

When someone writes to you first, it’s important to reply in the same tone. If they say hello, you say hello.  If they say hey, you can say, Wassup? Always address someone by name in your e-mail, unless you’ve been writing back and forth several times. In that case, it’s not necessary to start with “Hello, Naveen.” But, if someone writes you a nice note saying, “Dear Sigrid, I had a wonderful time at the concert the other night. Hope we can do it again really soon. Warmly, Barb,” don’t just reply, “Me, too.” The recipient could easily feel slighted or dismissed by your abrupt response, when that wasn’t your intention at all.

Remember that unless you’re using emoticons, which can often look juvenile, it’s hard for people to know how you feel. Echoing the language that they use is called mirroring. It’s an effective way to let other people know that you’ve heard them. Also, subconsciously people feel connected to you when you respond in a similar fashion. If they’ve written “Yo!” you’ll look stiff by replying “Good day, Xander.” Another way to mirror what someone has written is to keep your note about the same length as theirs.

Tune in on Monday, July 5th for part five of “How to Write a Smashing E-mail.”

Sigrid Macdonald is an editor and the author of three books, including the newly-released Be Your Own Editor, available on Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/2a3zx6t (Paperback) and
http://tinyurl.com/2blyqng (Kindle).

Uncategorized

How to Write a Smashing E-Mail: Part Three

In part two of this series, I discussed the importance of using a subject line in e-mails. Today, I’d like to focus on the content of e-mails, specifically what information can be omitted.

Don’t spend half your e-mail apologizing for the amount of time that it has taken you to reply to the sender. This is the adult version of “the dog ate my homework.” There’s no need for an explanation and oftentimes it backfires. You’re trying to be polite. You want someone to know why it’s taken you two days or three weeks to reply to a note. So you expound with an elaborate description of how busy you’ve been. But does this make the recipients feel better? Not always.

Sometimes, it makes them feel worse. If you’re so busy, maybe the people you’re writing to aren’t that important to you. Maybe they’re taking up your precious time. You’re certainly wasting their time by going on for three or four lines about your busy schedule. Move on! Sometimes an apology is warranted and you can make a brief acknowledgment, simply stating that you’re sorry it took so long to get back to the person. But don’t go on about why. No one really needs to know unless the matter is urgent and pertains to them (e.g., your cat died and the person you’re writing to is an animal lover).

Tune in on Monday, June 21, for Part Four of “How to Write a Smashing E-mail.”

Sigrid Macdonald is a book coach, a manuscript evaluator, and the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor, now available on Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/2a3zx6t (Paperback) and http://tinyurl.com/2blyqng (Kindle).

Uncategorized

Tips for Writing a Smashing E-mail: Part Two

Two weeks ago, I talked about why we should go out of our way to protect people’s identities and privacy in e-mail. Today I’m going to focus on the importance of the subject line.

How many times do you receive an e-mail without a subject line? I get them constantly. How difficult is it to write two or three words, to let the person you’re writing to know what your note is about? It will help him or her to prioritize the reading and response time for your message, and will add clarity to what you’re trying to say.

For example, if you’ve been writing back and forth with a topic that started out discussing Charlotte Bronte and your monthly book discussion group, but by the fifth response, you’ve moved on to talking about your upcoming vacation to the Bahamas, change the subject line to reflect that. It’s confusing to receive a note that says, “hairdresser” when the message inside is all about the BP oil spill. Be clear and pay attention to the way that your e-mail can change topics from the original one.

Unless the material below in ongoing conversations is critical, and someone may want to reference it, it’s thoughtful to delete the text. There’s nothing like clogging up the bandwidth with clutter. It just takes a few extra seconds to be the one who clears the previous, and now irrelevant, messages. But don’t do this if someone will need the info at the bottom of the page. Maybe it has a phone number, a meeting date or an important address. Check before you remove material.

And tune in on June 7th for tip number three on how to write a terrific e-mail.

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor, now available on Amazon.com. Read more at http://beyourowneditor.blogspot.com.

Uncategorized

Tips for Writing a Smashing E-mail: Part I

       

            Over the last 10 or 15 years, e-mail has increasingly become a large part of our lives. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, most likely you write e-mail on a daily basis.  It is a special kind of life form that can multiply dramatically right before our eyes.  Because there is so much of it, and because the medium is so rapid, we often don’t give e-mail the respect that it deserves.  I’d like to offer a number of important tips that will make your e-mail stand out from everybody else’s, whether you are writing for work or for play. So, here is Part One of “How to Write a Smashing E-Mail.”

            1.  Let’s begin with the address line. Always protect your recipient’s identity.  If you have more than one recipient, create a group list in your Outlook Express or put additional parties on a blind carbon copy line. Some people are very particular about not wanting their e-mail address circulated.  Other people don’t care.  Be safe.  Better to err on the side of caution.

            2.  Never forward a personal e-mail to someone else, even if you send them a copy, without their express permission.  Forwarding is so easy that you’ll never know if the note that you sent from your neighbor to your best friend magically returned to the original sender (often this occurs when someone hits the “reply all” button instead of just “reply”).  Prevent unwanted surprises.  Make a habit of ensuring everyone’s privacy.

            3. Check and double-check to make sure that you’re sending your e-mail to the right person to avoid any embarrassing moments.  I was involved with a man named Ed for many years.  Right below Ed in my address book was the Editors’ Association of Canada!  I lived in mortal fear that I would accidentally forward an amorous e-mail meant for Ed to the association. How did I resolve that concern?  I changed his name in my address book and called him “Hot Boy.” Sound silly?  It was worth it to know that the Editors’ Association didn’t read anything naughty that wasn’t intended for them.

            Tune in on May 24 for Tip Two on writing great e-mails.

 

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor, available on Amazon.com.  Visit her at sigridmacdonald@blogspot.com.

Uncategorized

Request a Free Electronic Copy of Be Your Own Editor

Be Your Own Editor is a crash course in grammar and writing basics. It covers a wide variety of topics from common errors in punctuation and word usage, to structuring nonfiction material and essays, to developing strong characters and plausible dialogue in fiction.

Until midnight on Mother’s Day, I’m giving away free electronic copies of BYOE. Send me a note at sigridmac at rogers.com and I’ll be happy to send you a copy. Please let me know if you have Kindle so I can send a Kindle version instead of a PDF.

All I ask in return for the free version is that you review the book on Amazon. Your review can consist of a couple of lines — just a few comments.
After Mother’s Day, anyone who sends me a direct message requesting a copy of my book will receive a discount.  The regular price is $17.95 but for you it will be $15, and $5.00 for shipping and handling.  Just let me know that you heard about the book here on Freelance-Zone.
I’ll be back again on Monday, starting my new series on how to write a smashing e-mail.
Fellow writer, Sigrid Mac