Skip to main content

Organization and Correctness

OWL logo

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.



Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.


Summary:

Provides information on revising business documents for audience and purpose with emphasis on language, tone, organization, and correctness.

Organization: Fitting the Form to Message and Audience

  1. Have I structured my letter or report according to what my reader's reaction to my message is likely to be?
    • Have I used the direct approach (which begins with good news or the main idea and fills in necessary explanation later) when my reader is likely to consider my message favorable or neutral?
    • Have I used the indirect approach (which begins with a buffer and requires necessary explanation and detail before the decision is stated) when my reader is likely to consider my message unfavorably or when he or she will need to be persuaded?
  2. Have I included transitions which will show my reader the relationships between my sentences and paragraphs?
  3. Does one paragraph logically follow the preceding paragraph and lead into the one which follows?

Correctness: Using Conventional Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation

Since most writers have problems with only particular types of spelling, grammar, and/or punctuation errors, you should read through your final drafts carefully—looking for those errors which you frequently commit. Slowly reading through your letter or report once for EACH of these errors will, in most cases, insure that your reader's attention will be focused on your message, not on your mechanical errors.