Letter writing

We have had a firestorm of letters being written by all of us recently. I am the worlds worst speller and grammer guy. Hence why I post my letters here, along with proof reading from my wife. So lets all try to make our letters and emails as great as possible,

One big error I notice folks on here make is the lose versus loose term. You dont loose your rights you lose them for instance. Post your commonly seen errors as well. Lets all help each other. By posting my letters here I have fixed many errors. I can understand as well not always wanting to post, at least have a couple of people close to you proof them. I probably made a couple of errors in this post that I wouldn't see.

Good point. Even great writers are not immune.

there vs their
role vs roll
your vs you're

Etc. There are plenty!

1. When done, run it through the spell checker.
2. Never send it cold. Let it sit, come back and look at it again, correct any errors you see.
3. Make any changes you think will make it clearer and more concise. Add any points you missed.
4. Run it through a spell checker.
5. let it sit again, look it over again, correct any errors you find.
6. Get someone to read it to make sure they understand what your points are. Have them look for grammar problems.
7. Look for repeated words that you can change by using a thesaurus so as not to make your letter monotonous.
8. Run it through the spell checker.
9. Send it.

Writing a good letter is an art, the flow is important. Don’t get verbose. Usually the fewer words you use to get your point across the better. After all, you want the reader to read it, not fall asleep in the middle of it.

Use proper sentence structure.

USE PROPER ENGLISH...Keep away from slang.

The way your letter represents you is vital if you want them to take you seriously

TBG

P.S. sorry for any mistakes in this as I ran out of time (the wife is yelling at me)

And do not trust spell check!

"they're" - "their" - "there" ...etc...

The Big Guy said:

P.S. sorry for any mistakes in this as I ran out of time (the wife is yelling at me)

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Another point, do not write and send while you are angry. :lol:




Actually, a better way to state that one is "don't react; instead, act."

wrightme said:

Another point, do not write and send while you are angry. :lol:




Actually, a better way to state that one is "don't react; instead, act."

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A couple of extremely good points. Those who act are in control. Those who always react, generally lose. Even when forced to react, act, don't play by their rules if you can help it.

TBG

I'm not much of a letter writer, but I'm pretty decent as a spelling/grammar checker, and sometimes as a thesaurus. If you guys that are doing a lot of writing want the spell check, add a note saying so when you show us your letter. I prefer not to do it without being asked, since it can provoke names like "Grammar Nazi" if it was unwanted. Also, a photography board I visit has the option of "Editing is OK" under your name and avatar, if you're OK with people editing and reposting your work, for constructive criticism.

And for The Big Guy's #2 and 5: I probably wont get to it right away if I'm working (usually within 24 hours), but that will give you time to think. If we send off letters while we're hot-headed, it can come back to bite us. Write it, post it and after it's been gone over, see if you still feel quite as strongly as it's worded.

Maybe we should start a "Spell Check Me" thread for letters we propose sending off. Anything posted there is free for spelling/grammar corrections, and maybe even rewording sections that could use improvement.

Four me I never had two much trouble with letter righting.

28kfps said:

Four me I never had two much trouble with letter righting.

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Unfortunately, this sentence would be cleared by a spell checker.

Just a word of warning.

I am trying to wring as much as I can out of my 8th grade education. If it were not for a few "Grammer Nazi's" on here I wouldn't know as much as I do. A quick search bac to 09 will tell you that. While they wern't always polite, I appreciated the help, and still do.

DON`T TREAD ON ME said:

I am trying to wring as much as I can out of my 8th grade education. If it were not for a few "Grammer Nazi's" on here I wouldn't know as much as I do. A quick search bac to 09 will tell you that. While they wern't always polite, I appreciated the help, and still do.

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I do not think education has much to do with it. We all get heated and write a letter and fire it off. And we make mistakes in that heat. I barely made it out of high school because of my spelling and writing. I really suck at it. My wife and others save my hide all the time. That is why we are all here as well. To be a group bound to a cause and help each other however we can.