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E-Mail Guidelines Under Construction

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Introduction

Advantages of e-mail

Electronic mail (e-mail) is an exceptionally efficient way for people to exchange detailed technical information. E-mail provides many advantages over conversing on the telephone or in person. For example:

There are other advantages of e-mail that become obvious as you use it. But mostly you will find your work becoming more rational, enjoyable, and valuable to your employer as you improve your e-mail skills and rely on e-mail more for your work.

Take it from the pros

The best way to develop good e-mail habits is to imitate the people who use e-mail well. As you read hundreds of e-mail messages from dozens of people, you'll discover that some people create messages that are easy for you to understand, while other people create messages that you find hard to understand.

The difference is no accident. People who have years of experience running complex businesses with e-mail are usually much better at writing e-mail than people who are just starting. As the rest of this guide will make clear, dozens of details make the difference between an informative e-mail message and an incoherent one.

Features of a quality e-mail program

A quality e-mail program is essential for writing quality e-mail. Surprisingly, even some of the most popular e-mail programs lack one or more basic features you need to follow the guidelines on this page.

Quoting

Your e-mail program must be able to quote previous text properly. This means that when you reply to a message, your e-mail program should be able to insert the text of that message into your reply. The program should "quote" the previous text by prefixing it with a greater-than sign and a space in the left column. For example, an e-mail message might contain a passage like this:

Jim Smith <jimsmith@somewhere.com> wrote:
> I need you to ship 500 diskettes by the end of this
> week to our people in Peoria.

I'm shipping them tomorrow.

> I'm not sure about the order from Chicago yet.

I'll be ready to ship when you give the OK. Say hello to the
wife and kids.

Your e-mail program should also let you control the appearance of quoted message text when you read an e-mail message replying to a previous message. In the above example the quoted text appears in italics.

Threading

E-mail lends itself to extended discussions where two or more people take turns successively replying to each other's messages. An original message together with its successive replies constitute a message thread. Often when you read an individual message in a large folder or archive containing many messages, you would like to have a simple way to view the thread containing that message. If everybody who contributed a message to that thread used an e-mail program that threads properly, your e-mail software will be able to reconstruct the message thread exactly as it occurred. That is, your e-mail program will display each message and indicate the messages that are replies to that message.

E-mail programs keep track of message threads by using message identification codes. When you send an e-mail message, your e-mail program inserts a Message-ID: line into your message header. If someone replies to your message using a competent e-mail program, the reply message will contain a References: header line containing the ID code of your message. This will enable your e-mail software to look up and retrieve your original message easily and accurately.

When you reply to a message, your e-mail program must insert a References: line into your message header. The References: line identifies the Message-ID: code of the previous message. This enables the recipient's e-mail program to track the message thread. This is essential when you participate in a mailing list.

Filtering

Your e-mail program should be able to sort incoming messages automatically into folders. This is helpful if you subscribe to several mailing lists.

Automatic URL hyperlinking

Your e-mail program should recognize valid, complete URLs in a message and display them automatically as clickable hyperlinks. That way if someone sends you a message containing an embedded URL, you should be able to click it and instantly browse to the Web page or other resource on the Internet. For example, you might receive a message with the following passage:

Check out this great Web site I found:
http://www.mfm.com

To make this work you must not abbreviate the URL by omitting the http:// or ftp:// prefix. This fashionable mistake prevents your reader's e-mail program from recognizing the URL and turning it into a valid hyperlink.

For example, this is not a URL:
www.mfm.com

[Full Contents]  [Introduction]  [Writing style]  [Quoting]  [Formatting]  [Organization]  [Addressing]  [Subject lines]  [Citing other e-mail messages]  [Signature]  [Mailing list guidelines]  [Guidelines for MFM Employees]  [Links to other resources] 

Writing style

Everyone Can Write Better

The English language has a large vocabulary and a flexible grammar. There are almost infinitely many ways to express a given thought in words. In technical and business writing, the goal is to find the way that the largest number of people can understand correctly with the least effort.

If you have never studied the rules of clear writing, you are probably not writing as clearly as you could. Most of us pick up bad habits by reading the inefficient writing of people around us. Some effort is necessary to learn what is wrong with these habits and correct them.

For example, compare the following two sentences:

An inefficient sentence An efficient sentence
In order to achieve the accomplishment of the purpose of entering the data on the form, it is the case that the form is displayed. The program displays a form to let you enter data.

Most people can recognize the second sentence as being "better" than the first. The second sentence is better because it conveys the same meaning with fewer words and a simpler grammatical structure. Most people can read and understand the second sentence in less than half the time they need to understand the first sentence.

The difference between the two sentences might seem mysterious. However, it is not. The first sentence specifically violates several of the clear writing rules that follow. Once you know these rules you can analyze the most awkward sentence, recognize its inefficiencies, and convert it into a concise, efficient equivalent.

Burden of Clarity Is on the Writer

When you write an e-mail message, your job is to be understandable to the reader. A message should not force the reader to resolve ambiguities, track down specific information, mentally correct the writer's errors, or read the writer's mind. Very often when you write an e-mail message to someone else, you are asking the reader for some sort of favor. This might include one or more of the following:

Your odds of getting what you want from another person increase when your messages do not impose unnecessary work on that person. Your messages should get your point across efficiently, without making the reader struggle to grasp your meaning from oblique clues. The reader should not have to ask you a long list of questions to clarify what you are trying to say.

Readers Generally Know Less than the Writer

When you write a message, you usually know what you are trying to say better than anybody else, including the reader. You are probably writing about a specific experience you have had, or a specific problem or situation you are observing. You probably know something about the subject that will be easier for you to describe clearly than for your reader to reconstruct from a vague description. Sometimes if you leave out just a few important details you can make the reader's job of understanding you much harder.

For example, suppose you want your reader to look at something on a computer. "Looking at something on a computer" means giving the computer specific commands to run a program and possibly display the contents of a specific file. If you refer to the action vaguely, your reader may have to spend hours attempting to determine exactly what commands and/or files are necessary to do what you are asking. If you know this information and you leave it out of your message, you may create a needle-in-the-haystack problem for the reader. You should only need a few seconds to include the exact names of these programs or files in your message, and this can save your reader hours of detective work.

There May Be More than One Reader

The need to write clearly multiplies when you write for more than one reader. If you send your message to a mailing list, a large number of people may read your message. If your message appears in an archive, people may read your message months or years in the future. This multiplies the importance of making your message clear and unambiguous. Don't force dozens of readers to waste dozens of hours to save yourself a few minutes of effort to explain yourself precisely.

Look Things up

When you are discussing something that has appeared in other documents, take a few moments to look up the relevant sections in those documents. This can save you a lot of work when your readers can refer to a document that already exists. Why re-type the information all over again, at the risk of introducing errors, when you can simply refer to an existing document? Resist the temptation to write "extemporaneously," that is, off the top of your head without reference to any other documents. Check the relevant reference documents. If you are describing the output of a program, run the program and make sure the program behaves exactly as you are describing.

Avoid "Synonym Disease"

Synonym disease is one of the consequences of extemporaneous writing. Some people have a knack for thinking of different words every time they want to describe the same object or action. For example, you might talk about a computer program's setup, settings, profile, preferences, or configuration. To stop a program that is currently running, you might use a command called exit, logoff, close, quit, or goodbye.

Why is synonym disease bad? It's bad because usually there will be one canonical name for an object or action that agrees with something your reader will know or see: existing documents, the window titles or commands in a computer program, or established practice. When you use a different synonym, the reader must understand that you are really referring to the canonical name, and you are not using the synonym to describe a completely different object or action.

For example, if a computer program has an "exit" menu command and you tell someone to "close" the program, that person will not find a "close" command in the program. If that person tries to look up a "close" command in the program or its documentation, (s)he won't find one. (S)he then has to find all the other commands that seem similar to the name you gave, and try to decide which one you were attempting to name.

Use Exact Names

This section gives examples of how to name objects and actions exactly.

File: Computer Name and Full Path

When you are describing a file on a computer (such as a data file or an executable file), state the file name. If the directory path to the file is relevant to your readers, give the path as well. For example, if you are referring to a file on a network server that your readers can access, then the name of the computer and the directory path to the file are meaningful. If you are referring to a file on someone else's computer and you don't know the directory path where (s)he has stored it, then you can only list the file name.

For example:
You can find the listing data for eastern Cincinnati suburbs
in the file: /var/www/mlsdata/residx/rese04.idx
on the Unix server: rigel.mfm.com
If this message had only referred to "the listing data for eastern Cincinnati suburbs" the reader would have to determine the file path and machine name on his/her own. If the reader is not intimately familiar with these files, that might be very hard for him/her to do.

Directory paths and file names are often difficult to type. If you type even one character incorrectly, a directory path is no longer valid. Therefore you should try to paste directory path names into your e-mail message rather than type them. You can usually display a directory path by opening a window where you can type commands to a computer:

Web Page: Full URL and Title

Refer to a Web page by its full URL and title. Do not abbreviate a URL by omitting the http:// or ftp:// prefix. This fashionable mistake prevents your reader's e-mail program from recognizing the URL and turning it into a valid hyperlink.

You can paste the URL of a Web page directly into your e-mail message after copying it from your Web browser's Location, Address, or URL field. It's usually best to put a URL on a line by itself, since it is likely to be long and you want to keep it apart from any normal sentence punctuation. Be sure to turn off all forms of line wrap in your e-mail program. If your e-mail program breaks a long URL into more than one line, the reader's e-mail program will not recognize the URL correctly and turn it into a valid hyperlink. Also include the title or main heading of the Web page along with its URL, in case the page moves to a different URL by the time someone reads your message. For example:

Here is the information you need to know about writing clear,
understandable e-mail:

MFM's E-Mail Guidelines
http://www.mfm.com/feedback/emailguide_all.shtml

Equipment: Model Name and Number

If you need to mention an equipment item, describe it completely enough to permit your reader to identify it easily. Include as much of the following information as applies:

Software: Correct Name and Version

If you need to mention a software program, describe it completely enough to permit your reader to identify it easily. Include as much of the following information as applies:

Most software programs have a Help | About... menu item that displays the program vendor, name, version.

Software Commands, Windows, etc.: Exact Name, Caption, or Title as It Appears in the Software

Many software programs have dozens of windows and hundreds of commands. When you need to tell someone else to look at a specific part of a program, refer to it specifically:

For example, here is how to direct your reader to a specific item on the Add/Edit Printer window in PC Access:
From the PC Access for Windows Main Menu window, select:
Setup | Advanced | Printer(s)
Select your printer from the Printers list and click the Edit button.
On the Edit Printer window check the Alternate Photo Clipping box.

Software Messages, DOS Window Output, Telnet Session Output: Type or Paste the Exact Text

When you need to convey the output of a program to your reader, paste it directly into your message. It's better to separate such program output from the rest of your message by inserting a blank line before and after it. Show where you have deleted lines of output by inserting [...] characters. For example:

Here is a sample ftp session where I download the mfm.fon file
from MFM's ftp server:

C:\>ftp ftp.mfm.com
Connected to rigel.mfm.com.
220 FTP server (Version wu-2.4(22) Fri Oct 24 13:04:55 EDT 1997) ready.
User (rigel.mfm.com:(none)): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password.
Password:
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> cd /pub/windows/pcaccess
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> pwd
257 "/pub/windows/pcaccess" is current directory
ftp> bin
200 Type set to I.
ftp> has
Hash mark printing On (2048 bytes/hash mark).
ftp> lcd c:\temp
Local directory now C:\temp
ftp> get mfm.fon
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for mfm.fon (186368 bytes).
####################################################################################
#######
226 Transfer complete.
186368 bytes received in 10.91 seconds (17.09 Kbytes/sec)
ftp> bye
221 Goodbye.

People: full name and employer

When you refer to people in your e-mail message, be sure that your references are unambiguous to all your readers. In most business correspondence, you should include a person's last name in at least your first reference to that person. If that person works for a different employer than one or more of your readers, mention the person's employer as well.

A slightly touchier problem occurs when you are directly addressing one person while sending copies of your message to other people. You might like to address the primary recipient by his or her first name only. However, this might make it difficult for other readers to identify the primary recipient. The solution is to include the full name of the primary recipient in your message header, in either the To: or Subject: line, or both. For example:

To: "Homer Simpson" <hsimpson@doh.com$gt;
Cc: "Bart Simpson" <bsimpson@underachiever.com>
Subject: Price Quote for Homer Simpson

Dear Homer,

Here is the price quote you requested:

Exact Names "Seed" Your Message for Easier Search and Retrieval

When you refer to people and objects by their exact names, you "seed" your message with keywords that make it easier to retrieve. This is particularly important when you send your message goes to a mailing list.

Use Standard English

Groups of people tend to invent their own dialects. This is how languages evolve. However, if your language evolves away from someone else's language, that person has a harder time understanding you.

Your profession has probably invented new words to describe new concepts of interest to members of your profession. In addition, your profession or company may have invented new words or given new meanings to existing words unnecessarily. These may alienate or confuse people outside your immediate circle of professional peers. Your English should be as "standard" as you can make it.

Slang words to avoid Equivalent standard English words
doco document
correx corrections

If you must use some essential jargon term when writing to someone outside your organization (for example, a customer) be sure to define it near the first place where you use it.

Expand Unobvious Acronyms

Avoid Excessive Abbreviation

Follow Rules of Business Correspondence

Check Spelling and Grammar

Setup Vs. Set Up

Many people confuse words such as the following: setup (a noun) and set up (a verb). The following table shows the correct way to use these words.

Noun Verb
The setup contained errors. I will set up the program.
I could not find the backup. The program will back up the data.
I was present during the startup. I am ready to start up my computer.
I was present during the shutdown. I am ready to shut down my computer.
This data needs a cleanup. The program will clean up the data.
Take the first turnoff. Turn off the road at the first exit.
I had problems during the log-on. You may log on to the MLS when you see the log-on prompt.

In addition, some of the noun forms of these words can act as adjectives:

Adjective
The setup file contained errors.
The backup tape was missing.
Follow this startup procedure.
The cleanup crew is here.

Follow The Rules of Clear Technical Writing

Write as Simply and Directly as Possible

Use the Active Voice

Most English sentences having a transitive verb follow the pattern: subject - verb - object. Such a sentence is in the active voice. A sentence which inverts the normal order by turning the object into the subject is in the passive voice.

What is the passive voice?

A sentence is in the passive voice when the predicate consists of two parts:

Some conjugates of the verb to be include:
I am we are
you are you are
he/she/it is they are
I was we were
you were you were
he/she/it was they were
Other variations of the verb to be include: was being, could be, could have been, has been, is to be, and is still being.

In the following verb phrases, the conjugate of the verb to be appears in red, and the past participle of the main verb appears in orange:

Here are some pairs of sentences expressing equivalent meanings in the passive and active voices. In the first sentence in each pair, the subject appears in blue, the conjugate of the verb to be appears in red, the past participle of the action verb appears in orange, and the object (actor) appears in purple. In the second sentence in each pair, the subject and object switch places but have the same colors they had in the first sentence to illustrate what happens to them when you convert a sentence to the active voice:

Why the Passive Voice Is Bad

The passive voice is usually worse than the active voice because:

How to Find Sentences in the Passive Voice

The passive voice has a fairly regular structure; therefore, computer programs capable of searching for regular expressions can find some of the instances of the passive voice in any text file. Such programs include: grep and vi in Unix; Multi-Edit in Windows; and Perl on almost any operating system.

How to Convert the Passive Voice to the Active Voice

To convert instances of the passive voice to the active voice:

  1. Find sentences containing verbs in the passive voice.
  2. Parse (or diagram) the sentences to find the parts of speech: subject, verb, and object.
    • If the object (i.e., the actor) is present, it will usually be after the verb in a phrase beginning with the word by.
    • If the object is missing, determine the missing object from the context around the sentence. If you are editing someone else's writing you may have to ask the original author to clarify the missing object if the ambiguity is severe.
    Each following sentence contains at least one clause in the passive voice. In each such clause, subjects appear in blue, conjugates of the verb to be appear in red, past participles of verbs appear in orange, and objects appear in purple:
    • This could be caused by a bad disk 1, virus infection, or by an anti-virus program running while PC Access is trying to install the User Authorization.
    • I have detected some previously installed* User Authorizations that are backed up on this Disk #1.
      • (Missing object: are backed up by what? *Also, the word installed acts as an adjective but implies another missing actor.)
    • Would you like to see if any of them were created on this PC?
      • (Missing object: were created by what?)
    • After the PC Access program files have been installed, you will need to install your User Authorization.
      • (Missing object: have been installed by what?)
    • If the factory original PC Access disk(s) was damaged, and you try to use it, you may damage the files you just downloaded.
      • (Missing object: was damaged by what?)
  3. Decide whether the object is relevant, then begin constructing a new sentence:
    • If the object is relevant:
      1. Make the object of the original sentence the subject of a new sentence.
      2. Convert the verb from the passive voice into the equivalent tense and mood in the active voice. For example:
        Passive Voice Active Voice
        The report is written by Jo. Jo writes the report.
        The report was written by Jo. Jo wrote the report.
        The report was being written by Jo. Jo was writing the report.
        The report will be written by Jo. Jo will write the report.
        The report is to be written by Jo. Jo is to write the report.
      3. Make the subject of the original sentence the object of the new sentence.
    • If the (missing) object is irrelevant, or if the verb phrase is really acting like an adjective:
      1. Select a different verb (or perhaps an adjective) that expresses the same meaning with the original subject but in the active voice. For example:
        Passive Voice Active Voice
        The data is displayed on the window. The data appears on the window.
        The download is finished. The download finished.
        I am convinced. I believe.
        The knife is sharpened. The knife is sharp.

Take the Passive Voice Quiz

Test your ability to identify sentences in the passive voice and convert them into the active voice. Click here to take the quiz.

Address User with "You (Understood)"

When you are telling someone else to do something, address the user in the imperative mood. This is usually the most direct and understandable way to instruct someone.

Indirect instructions Direct instructions
The data is to be entered on the form. Enter the data on the form.
The customer is to enter the data on the form. Tell the customer to enter the data on the form.

Do Not Nominalize Verbs

You can nominalize (turn into nouns) many verbs by adding an ending like -tion or -ing. Avoid nominalizing the action verb in a sentence and adding a nonspecific helping verb such as "serve to," "achieve," "make," "conduct," "perform," or "accomplish." This dilutes the specific action in the sentence by replacing the action verb with a general verb.

Sentences with indirect verbs Sentences with direct verbs
The Terminal window serves to let you log in to your MLS. The Terminal window lets you log in to your MLS.
To conduct a search for listings, select the Search command on your MLS. To search for listings, select the Search command on your MLS.
After several tries I accomplished the printing of the file. After several tries I printed the file.

Avoid Dead Words

A word is dead when it adds no meaning to a sentence. Usually you can delete a dead word from a sentence. Sometimes you may have to reword the sentence slightly after deleting the dead word. For example, in the following sentences the dead words are in italics:

Sentence with dead word(s) Sentence without dead word
We are unable to complete the project in the time frame available. We are unable to complete the project in the time available.
In order to solve the problem we hired a consultant. To solve the problem we hired a consultant.
We fired the consultant for the purpose of saving money. We fired the consultant to save money.
The file is located in the C:\WINDOWS directory. The file is in the C:\WINDOWS directory.
Follow the instructions found in the document. Follow the instructions in the document.
I found a letter contained in the envelope. I found a letter in the envelope.

Break Complex Sentences into Two or More Simple Sentences

Short sentences are usually easier to understand than long sentences. Long sentences usually contain more than one clause. Your meaning will often be clearer if you break up a long sentence by turning one or more of its clauses into separate sentences. Long sentences also more likely to contain grammatical errors because they have more scope for disagreement between the larger number of parts.

Long sentence Several short sentences
To run Flyer and CMA without PC Access, you must give them the path to the user's directory you created in step 5 above as a subdirectory of the application directory (e.g. PCAFlyer/userdata) by selecting Run | Parameters and entering the information. To run Flyer and CMA without PC Access, you must give them the path to the user's directory by selecting Run | Parameters and entering the information. You created the user's directory in step 5 above as a subdirectory of the application directory (e.g. PCAFlyer/userdata).

If you need to say several things about a person or object, express them as a list:

One Long sentence The same information in a list format
The E-Mail Message window appears when you click the E-Mail button on the Main Menu window; when you select the Tools | Send E-Mail menu item on the Terminal window; when you are online to a Maestro MLS in the Terminal window, and you select the Internet E-Mail Listing and Full Photo menu item on the Listing Function Speed Menu; when you are online to a Compass MLS in the Terminal window, and you select the Internet E-Mail Listing and Full Photo menu item on the Full Listing Speed Menu; when you are online to a Compass MLS in the Terminal window, and you select either the Internet E-Mail Listing and Summary Photo item or the Internet E-Mail Listing and Full Photo item on the Summary Listing Speed Menu; or when you select E-Mail (Full Schedule) as your Destination on the Amortization window, and click the Go button. The E-Mail Message window appears in the following ways:

  • When you click the E-Mail button on the Main Menu window.
  • When you select the Tools | Send E-Mail menu item on the Terminal window.
  • When you are online to a Maestro MLS in the Terminal window, and you select the Internet E-Mail Listing and Full Photo menu item on the Listing Function Speed Menu.
  • When you are online to a Compass MLS in the Terminal window, and you select the Internet E-Mail Listing and Full Photo menu item on the Full Listing Speed Menu.
  • When you are online to a Compass MLS in the Terminal window, and you select either of these menu items on the Summary Listing Speed Menu:
    • Internet E-Mail Listing and Summary Photo
    • Internet E-Mail Listing and Full Photo
  • When you select E-Mail (Full Schedule) as your Destination on the Amortization window, and click the Go button.

Use Pronouns Sparingly; Use Nouns Instead

Pronouns are words such as "he," "she," "it," "they," "this," "these," and "that." Pronouns refer to people or things. For your reader to understand what you mean when you use a pronoun, your reader must be able to identify the pronoun's referent, that is, the word the pronoun refers to.

A pronoun is easiest to understand when the pronoun refers to a noun or proper noun that appears just before the pronoun. Some examples:

A pronoun is easiest to understand when it refers to a noun or proper noun that appears just before the pronoun.
I sent copies of the proposal to John Doe and Jane Public. They should reply within a week.

If a sentence has several nouns between a pronoun and its referent, consider replacing the pronoun with its referent. Being repetitive is better than being ambiguous. In the following example, the possible referents of the pronoun appear in italics. The second sentence eliminates the potential ambiguity by substituting the referent for the pronoun "It:"

The Setup Menu window in PC Access appears when you click the Setup button on the Main Menu window. It provides the following options.
The Setup Menu window provides the following options.

If you must use a pronoun, make sure the pronoun's referent appears in your message. If the pronoun's referent does not appear in your message, then your message will only make sense to someone who is familiar with the context of your previous discussion. For example:

She said she would send her reply.
It says something about some problem with something or other.

A pronoun whose referent does not appear in your message is a "pronoun from space." A reader who sees your message a few weeks or months later may have an especially hard time understanding it.

A Pronoun Should Follow Its Referent

A pronoun should follow the word it refers to. For example, a pronoun precedes its referent when a sentence begins with the word "It" and later contains the word "that." For example:

It is generally true that pronouns that precede their referents make a sentence harder to understand.

You can almost always reword such a sentence to remove the "It" and "that" entirely:

Pronouns that precede their referents generally make a sentence harder to understand.

When Choosing Between Two or More Synonyms, Choose the Simplest

When you have a choice between two or more synonyms for a given word, choose the synonym that is simpler and more common. Business and technical correspondence is not the place to impress people with your vocabulary. Impress people with your ability to make complex subjects easy to understand.

A complex synonym A simple synonym
prior to before
subsequent to after
utilize use
cost effective cheap (or economical)
time frame time
lugubrious sad
taciturn quiet

[Full Contents]  [Introduction]  [Writing style]  [Quoting]  [Formatting]  [Organization]  [Addressing]  [Subject lines]  [Citing other e-mail messages]  [Signature]  [Mailing list guidelines]  [Guidelines for MFM Employees]  [Links to other resources] 

Quoting

Quote text when replying to a message

Quote only relevant text

Write your replies below each section you quote

Turn off line wrap

[Full Contents]  [Introduction]  [Writing style]  [Quoting]  [Formatting]  [Organization]  [Addressing]  [Subject lines]  [Citing other e-mail messages]  [Signature]  [Mailing list guidelines]  [Guidelines for MFM Employees]  [Links to other resources] 

Formatting

Plain text

Turn off line wrap

Manually wrap lines to 72 columns or less

Ragged right margin

Avoid indenting

Place URLs on separate lines

Use normal sentence case

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