BELOW IS A MODEL OF A BLOCK-STYLE FRIENDLY LETTER
February 12, 2013
Dear Mark,
First of all, I just want to tell you how pleased I am to meet you-via email. I have never met anyone that is scuba certified. How close are you to the ocean? Do you scuba dive frequently? If so, where?
I believe the best way to teach writing is to give students writing models to go by; your next assignment is disguised in a friendly letter addressed back to you. You will notice that the date, salutation (greeting/Dear Mark), body paragraphs, and closing (Sincerely,) have a double space that separates each of them.
Today, I would like to share four of my "writing hints".
On a side note, you may be wondering why I am having you reread your letter so many times. I find that going through writing looking for just one area to correct is less overwhelming.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Padgett
February 12, 2013
Dear Mark,
First of all, I just want to tell you how pleased I am to meet you-via email. I have never met anyone that is scuba certified. How close are you to the ocean? Do you scuba dive frequently? If so, where?
I believe the best way to teach writing is to give students writing models to go by; your next assignment is disguised in a friendly letter addressed back to you. You will notice that the date, salutation (greeting/Dear Mark), body paragraphs, and closing (Sincerely,) have a double space that separates each of them.
Today, I would like to share four of my "writing hints".
- Always read your writing aloud. I am always so surprised at how quickly I find errors just by doing this!
- Avoid using non-specific words (things, sort of, maybe, a lot, many, really, good, stuff, lots). Can you find any non-specific words in your letter? For example, if I were to look up the word things in the thesaurus, this is what I would find for synonyms (words that mean the same): belongings, gear, clothes, action, deed, occurrence, article, thought, attribute. As you can tell, there are many different ways to say the word things.
- Avoid using contractions (examples: won't, I'm) in formal writing. Since this is a friendly letter and considered informal, contractions are acceptable. However, for practice, I would like to see you go back to your letter and correct them. Go to this link if you are unsure.
- Typing: Two spaces after all end marks (. ? !) and one space after internal punctuation (, : ;).
On a side note, you may be wondering why I am having you reread your letter so many times. I find that going through writing looking for just one area to correct is less overwhelming.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Padgett
