Reflection on Assignment 1: Email

From this email assignment, I learned that writing business messages is a lot different from writing academically. I have to adopt a very different writing style from what I'm used to. I thought that using "big" words and long sentences in writing will sound more professional to the reader. However, being concise and using a conversational tone is more important in order to communicate effectively in business writing.

In the past, I don't usually plan too much before writing. Since I'm inexperienced in business writing, I decided to follow the textbook guidelines in planning my business email. I realized the planning process is very helpful. The examples in the textbook give me an outline of the format and the structure of a business email. In addition, the points from the checklist about composing email with style allow me to check my work. Therefore, I think that the textbook is an excellent resource, and it really helps me in the planning and the writing step. When I was developing the topic and creating the business situation, the concepts of composing a business email are reinforced. I have to think about the different possibilities, and determine if they were suitable for the assignment by going through the concepts in my mind.

After I finish the planning process, writing the actual email is a lot easier. I knew what my ideas were, and I just had to communicate them effectively using words. When I received my evaluation on the email and the suggestions you provided, I think I need to improve on writing in business style. As you pointed out in the evaluation, I used hedging in some of my sentences. The suggestions you provided was very helpful because they gave me an idea on how I can better communicate my message by writing differently. Also, I think I need to be more careful about grammar. Overall, I think that these assignments are great practices, and hopefully I can improve my business writings skills by the end of the term.

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