Some help for your informal writings

E-MAILS TO FRIENDS

 It is common to start an e-mail with the name of the person you are writing to, without starting with the word "Dear". The following are examples of some appropriate ways to start and end an e-mail:

 Writing to a friend
Start: Use the person's first name
Ending: "Best wishes" "Take care" (see chart)
Signature: Your first name

 

TIPS

• Always use a subject line that summarises the content of the e-mail, not one that tries to trick the person into opening it.
• Always remember to open and close e-mails - "hello" and "goodbye" (or similar).
• Write more clearly, by shortening the lengths of words, sentences and paragraphs.
• Use Bold, Italics and different SIZED text to make the key points stand out.
• Check your spelling and grammar prior to hitting the send button.
• Add useful information in your signature, including alternative contact details and how often you check your mail.

OPENING
You would never walk into a room, and start talking to someone without at least saying hello. But many people start e-mails without any introduction. They also end without saying goodbye.
Here are some good and bad introductions:

	Hello,
	Hi,
	Peter,
	Hi Jane,
	Dear Ben, (a bit formal)
	What's up, (too informal)
	Good Morning, (you don't know what time they will check their mail)

 CLOSING
As for saying goodbye, there are numerous ways you can do this. Just make sure you give your name - which should appear on the second line after your close. (SEE CHART)

Abbreviation usage is quite rampant with e-mail.  Some of the more common abbreviations are listed in the table below. 

This	Means This
CU	see you
BTW	by the way
F2F	face to face
FYI	for your information
IMHO	in my humble opinion
LOL	laugh out loud
ROTFL	rolling on the floor laughing
B4N	bye for now
GR8!	great!
TTFN	ta ta for now
TTYL	talk to you later

Smilies


Part of the nature of a good one-on-one conversation is the use of visual cues. How important are facial expressions and body gestures to a conversation? A simple eye movement can mean the difference between "yes" and "YES". What about auditory cues? The results are the same.
Since there are no visual or auditory cues with e-mail, users have come up with something called "smilies". They are simple strings of characters that are interspersed in the e-mail text to convey the writer's emotions (cues). The most common example is :-). Turn your head to the left and you should see a happy face (the colon are the eyes, the dash is the nose and the parentheses is the mouth). Here are some more examples.

This	Means This
:-)	Smiley face
;-)	Wink (light sarcasm)
:-|	Indifference
:->	Devilish grin (heavy sarcasm)
8-)	Eye-glasses
:-D	Shock or surprise
:-/	Perplexed
:-(	Frown (anger or displeasure)
:-P	Wry smile
;-}	Leer
:-Q	Smoker
:-e	Disappointment
:-@	Scream
:-O	Yell
:-*	Drunk
:-{}	Wears lipstick