Why do we find penning a formal letter daunting? When given a choice between a letter and a story, why do students often opt for the latter? This shying away from formal writing in fact manifests at all ages. The reasons behind it are not difficult to comprehend.
The informal genres such as stories and recounts conform to the natural, less pretentious and less fussy spoken language. Formal writing, on the other hand, observes decorum. Unfortunately, in a texting-crazed world, the boundaries between formal and informal writing have broken down. Colloquial styles of expression have entered the formal arena of writing to the dismay of our literary forefathers and linguists.
Here are seven common formal-letter-writing mistakes:
1. Unclear Pronoun Reference
This one is the most frustrating for the reader. Finding the correct referent for pronouns such as this, that and it is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Symptoms of informal writing, these ambiguous pronouns indicate a transition or flow between ideas. However, they confuse rather than clarify.
Frequent streetlight outage has led to an alarming increase in attempted thefts and road accidents. This can no longer be ignored. (What is 'this' referring to? Outage? Alarming increase?)
To avoid any confusion, write the noun or the implied idea (what "this" refers to) immediately after the pronoun (this, that, it etc.).
Frequent streetlight outage has led to an alarming increase in attempted thefts and road accidents. This issue can no longer be ignored.
2. You
The colloquial pronoun 'you' is so comfortably entrenched in our daily vocabulary that it is often impossible to avoid it a formal letter. The appearance of 'you' at certain places (such as an appeal to the addressee in the conclusion) is appropriate. However, using 'you' in hypothetical scenarios and rhetorical questions can be impolite, if not downright offensive. 'You' supposes the exclusion of the writer from a particular context and makes the writing appear snooty.
Would you find your lunch appetizing if the cutlery were filthy? (Letter to the head teacher complaining the lack of cleanliness in school)
Research shows that self-defence classes can enhance your confidence, muscle coordination and social skills. (Letter to request for self-defence classes at school)
The whole idea of a formal letter is to make your point without becoming personal (first example) and sounding presumptuous (second example). To correct the statements given above, we can use the universal pronoun ‘one’ or the interrogative pronouns ‘who.’
Who would find their lunch appetizing if the cutlery were filthy?
Research shows that self-defence classes can enhance one’s confidence, muscle coordination and social skills.
3. So
Don't we so love the intensifier ‘so’? ‘So’ as an adverb means to ‘a great extent’ or ‘very.’ It is a regular feature of spoken language and informal writing. In a formal letter, it is unpardonable.
The rise in violence against children is so disturbing. (Informal)
The rise in violence against children is disturbing. (Formal)
4. Exclamation Points
An exclamation mark is a shouty punctuation. It screams and begs for attention. Expressive of strong emotional states, exclamation marks are inappropriate in a formal letter. They can make your writing look desperate and amateurish. What works best is the familiar and reliable period.
Newspapers are inundated with crimes against children! (Inappropriate)
Newspapers are inundated with crimes against children. (Correct)
5. Numbers
Numbers might form the new alphabet. They seem to be displacing words in text messaging (as 4 replaces 'for' or 2 replaces 'two'). Writing numbers in figures or numerals is a sign of lazy and informal writing.
Write numbers up to one hundred (e.g. fifteen, sixty-five) and rounded numbers (e.g. two hundred, one thousand, three million) in words. Of course, this rule applies to the body of a formal letter (not the address details or the date). Further, use a hyphen in a compound number (formed by joining two words). Examples: twenty-one, thirty-five, ninety-nine etc.
6. Contractions
Contractions have no place in formal letters. Formed by joining two words with an apostrophe, contractions are seen as casual writing. They can often cause serious grammatical errors in the choice of homophones, such as the confusion between your, you are and you're. So what do we do? Write 'is not' or 'they will' instead of 'isn’t' or 'they'll.' It is that simple.
Writing a formal letter is an art that can be practiced and perfected. Keep these six mistakes in mind the next time you write one.