The AMA Handbook of Business Writing

Editor/Author Wilson, Kevin and Wauson, Jennifer
Publication Year: 2010
Publisher: AMACOM, Publishing Division of the American Management Association

Price: Core Collection Only
ISBN: 978-0-81-441589-4
Category: Language & Literature - Composition (Language arts)
Image Count: 178
Book Status: Available
Table of Contents

Arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced for easier use, the book presents clear examples of how to (and how not to) create winning materials every time. The authors' step-by-step instructions begin with an overview of the writing process, from preparation and research right through to final review and publication.

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Table of Contents

  • INTRODUCTION
  • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  • SECTION 1 The Writing Process
  • Audience Analysis
  • Brainstorming
  • Research
  • Interviewing
  • Outlining
  • Writing a Draft
  • Business Writing Style
  • Using Visuals
  • Page Design
  • Publication Design
  • Editing
  • Proofreading
  • Document Review
  • Revisions
  • Documenting Sources
  • Global Communications
  • Collaborative Writing
  • Promotional Writing
  • SECTION 2 The Business Writer's Alphabetical Reference
  • A, An
  • Abbreviations
  • Abbreviations for Measurements
  • Abbreviations for Numbers
  • Above, Below
  • Absolute Form of an Adjective
  • Absolute Phrase
  • Absolutely
  • Abstract Nouns
  • Accent Marks
  • Accept, Except
  • Access, Excess
  • Acronyms
  • Action Verbs
  • Active Voice
  • A.D.
  • Adjectival Noun
  • Adjectival Opposites
  • Adjective Phrase
  • Adjectives
  • Adjuncts, Disjuncts, and Conjuncts
  • Adverbial Clause
  • Adverbial Phrase
  • Adverbs
  • Advice, Advise
  • Affect, Effect
  • Affixes
  • African-American
  • Age
  • Agents
  • Agreement
  • Aid, Aide
  • Alike
  • A Little
  • Allegories
  • Alliteration
  • All Right, Alright
  • Allusion, Illusion
  • Alone, Lonely
  • A Lot, Alot, Allot
  • Already, All Ready
  • Altogether, All Together
  • Ambitransitive Verbs
  • American English, British English
  • Among, Between
  • Ampersand
  • A.M., P.M.
  • an
  • Anadiplosis
  • Anaphora
  • And Also
  • And/Or
  • Angry, Mad
  • Animate Nouns
  • Antagonyms
  • Antecedent
  • Anti-
  • Antimetabole
  • Antonyms
  • Any, Either
  • Any, Some
  • Apart, A Part
  • Apodosis
  • Apostrophe
  • Appears, Displays
  • Appendix
  • Apposition
  • Appositives
  • Articles
  • As, Like
  • Assure, Insure, Ensure
  • Asterisks
  • As to Whether
  • As Well As
  • Autoantonyms
  • Auxiliary Verbs
  • Average, Mean, Median
  • A While, Awhile
  • Awful, Awfully
  • Bad, Badly
  • Back-Channeling
  • Backslash, Slash
  • Back up, Backup
  • Base Form of a Verb
  • Basically, Essentially, Totally
  • B.C.
  • Because, Since, As
  • Been, Gone
  • Being That, Being As
  • Below
  • Beside, Besides
  • Between, Among
  • Bias, Biased
  • Biased or Sexist Language
  • Bibliography
  • Billion
  • Biweekly, Bimonthly, Semiweekly, Semimonthly
  • Blind
  • Blog, Weblog
  • Bold Fonts
  • Bored, Boring
  • Both, Alike
  • Both, Each
  • Brackets
  • Brake, Break
  • Brand Names
  • Breath, Breathe
  • Bring, Take
  • British English
  • Bulleted List
  • Bushel
  • Business, Right
  • Buzzwords
  • By, Bye, Buy
  • By, Until
  • Call Back, Callback
  • Call Out, Callout
  • Callouts
  • Came By
  • Can, May
  • Cannot
  • Can't Seem
  • Canvas, Canvass
  • Capital Letters
  • Capital, Capitol
  • Capitalization
  • Decorations
  • Degrees (Academic)
  • Districts
  • Captions
  • Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers
  • Case
  • Cataphora
  • Causative Verbs
  • Caution Notice
  • CD, DVD
  • Censor, Censure, Sensor, Censer
  • Champaign, Champagne
  • Check, Control
  • Chiasmus
  • Chicano, Latino, Hispanic
  • Choose, Chose
  • Cite, Site, Sight
  • Citing Publications
  • Clauses
  • Cleanup, Clean Up
  • Cleft Sentences
  • Clichés
  • Click
  • Click and Drag
  • Click On
  • Closed Compounds
  • Coleman-Liau Index
  • Collective Adjectives
  • Collective Nouns
  • Collocations
  • Colloquial
  • Colon
  • Combination
  • Comma
  • Common Adjectives
  • Common Nouns
  • Company and Product Names
  • Comparatives
  • Compared to, Compared with
  • Complement, Compliment
  • Complements
  • Complex Prepositions
  • Compound Nouns
  • Compound Predicates
  • Compound Sentences
  • Compounding Sentence Elements
  • Compound Words
  • Comptroller, Controller
  • Concord
  • Concrete Nouns
  • Conditional Perfect
  • Conditionals
  • Conjunctions
  • Conjunctive Adverbs
  • Conjuncts
  • Connote, Denote
  • Considered to Be
  • Consonants
  • Continuous Verbs
  • Contractions
  • Contranyms
  • Control
  • Convince, Persuade
  • Cooperate
  • Coordinated Adjectives
  • Coordinating Conjunctions
  • Copula Verbs
  • Copyright
  • Correlative Conjunction
  • Could of, Might of
  • Council, Counsel, Consul
  • Count Nouns
  • Credible, Credulous
  • Cross-Reference
  • Cut-and-Paste
  • Danger Notice
  • Dangling Modifiers
  • Dangling Participles
  • Dash
  • Data
  • Dates
  • Deaf or Hard of Hearing
  • Deal
  • Decimals
  • Declarative Mood
  • Declarative Sentence
  • Defining Relative Clause
  • Definite Article
  • Defuse, Diffuse
  • Degree Adverbs
  • Degree Titles
  • Deixis
  • Demonstrative Adjectives
  • Demonstrative Pronouns
  • Denominal Adjectives
  • Denote, Connote
  • Dependent Clauses
  • Descriptive Writing
  • Desert, Dessert
  • Determiners
  • Device, Devise
  • Diacritic
  • Different from, Different than
  • Diffuse, Defuse
  • Dimensions
  • Direct Objects
  • Disability
  • Disc, Disk
  • Discreet, Discrete
  • Disease Names
  • Disjuncts
  • Display, Monitor, Screen
  • Disyllabic
  • Ditransitive Verbs
  • Ditto Marks
  • Do, Does, Did
  • Dollars and Cents
  • Don't, Doesn't
  • Do's and Don'ts
  • Dot-Com
  • Double Negatives
  • Double Possessives
  • Double-Click
  • Download, Upload
  • Downtoners
  • Drag-and-Drop
  • Due to the Fact That
  • DVD
  • Dynamic Adjectives
  • Dynamic Verbs
  • Each Other, One Another
  • Each, Their
  • Effect, Affect
  • Eggcorn
  • e.g., i.e.
  • Either, Neither
  • Elicit, Illicit
  • Ellipses
  • Elliptical Clauses
  • Email
  • Embedded Questions
  • Em Dash
  • Emigrate, Immigrate
  • Eminent, Imminent, Immanent
  • Emoticons
  • Empathic Forms
  • Empathy, Sympathy
  • En Dash
  • Endnotes
  • End Result
  • Endophora
  • Engine, Motor
  • Enough, Not Enough
  • Enquire, Inquire
  • Ensure, Assure, Insure
  • Enthuse, Enthusiastic
  • Entitled
  • Envelop, Envelope
  • Epanadiplosis
  • Epanalepsis
  • Epistemic Modality
  • Epistrophe
  • Epizeuxis
  • Equally as Important
  • Equations
  • Ergative Verbs
  • Essentially
  • et al.
  • etc.
  • Euphemisms
  • Everyday
  • Everyone, Every One
  • Every Time
  • Except, Unless
  • Excess, Access
  • Exclamation Point
  • Exclamatory Sentence
  • Exclusive Adverbs
  • Existential There,
  • Exit
  • Exophoric
  • Expect
  • Expletive Constructions
  • Expository Writing
  • Extranet
  • Extraposition
  • Factitive Verbs
  • Faint
  • Fair, Fare
  • FANBOYS
  • Farther, Further
  • Faze, Phase
  • Feint, Faint
  • Female, Woman
  • Fewer, Less
  • Few, A Few
  • Figuratively
  • Figure of Speech
  • Figures
  • Finite Verbs
  • First Conditional
  • Fix, Situation
  • Flair, Flare
  • Flesch-Kincaid Index
  • Flier, Flyer
  • Focus Adverb
  • Fog Index
  • Font, Typeface
  • Foot, Feet
  • Footnotes, Endnotes
  • Forego, Forgo
  • Foreign Words and Phrases
  • Forever, For Ever
  • For, Fore, Four
  • Formatting
  • Formulas
  • Forward, Forwards, Foreword
  • Fractions
  • Fragments
  • Full Time, Full-time
  • Further
  • Fused Sentences
  • Future Perfect
  • Future Perfect Progressive
  • Future Progressive
  • Gage, Gauge
  • Gender
  • Genitive Marker
  • Gerund
  • Gigabyte
  • Gigahertz
  • Glossary
  • Gone, Went
  • Good, Well
  • Got, Gotten
  • Grammatical Hierarchy
  • Gray, Grey
  • Guess
  • Handicap, Disability
  • Hard Disk, Hard Drive
  • Headings and Subheadings
  • Helping Verbs
  • Hendiatris
  • Heteronyms
  • Highlighting
  • Hispanic, Latino, Chicano
  • Hit
  • Homographs
  • Homonyms
  • Homophones
  • Hypallage
  • Hyperbaton
  • Hyperbole
  • Hyperlinks
  • Hyphens
  • Hyphenated Compound Words
  • Hyphenated Numbers
  • Hyponyms
  • Hypophora
  • Hypothetical Questions
  • Hysteron Proteron
  • Idiolect
  • Idioms, 230i.e., e.g.
  • If, When, Whether
  • Illicit, Elicit
  • Illusion, Allusion
  • Illustrations
  • I, Me, Myself
  • Immanent, Eminent
  • Immigrate, Emigrate
  • Imperative Mood
  • Imply, Infer
  • Inanimate Nouns
  • Inaugurate
  • Inchoative Verbs
  • Indefinite Articles
  • Indefinite Pronouns
  • Independent Clauses
  • Index
  • Indicative Mood
  • Indirect Objects
  • Indirect Speech
  • Inductive Antonomasia
  • Infinitives
  • Inflection
  • Inherent and Noninherent Adjectives
  • Initialisms, Acronyms
  • Innuendo
  • In Order to
  • Inquire, Enquire
  • In-Sentence Lists
  • Inside of, Within
  • Insure, Ensure, Assure
  • Intensive Pronouns
  • Interjections
  • Internet, Intranet, Extranet
  • Interrogative Pronouns
  • Interrogative Sentences
  • Intranet
  • Intransitive Verbs
  • Introductory Modifier
  • Invite
  • Irony
  • Irregular Plurals
  • Irregular Spelling
  • Irregular Verbs
  • Isocolon
  • Italics
  • Its, It's
  • Jargon
  • Job Titles
  • Joint Possessives
  • Jr., Sr.
  • Kenning
  • Keyboard Terminology
  • Kilobyte
  • Kilohertz
  • Kind, Kinds
  • Kind of, Sort of
  • Latino, Hispanic, Chicano
  • Latin Terms
  • Latitude, Longitude
  • Lay, Lie
  • Lay Out, Layout
  • Lead, Led
  • Learn, Teach
  • Leave, Let
  • Led, Lead
  • Lend, Loan
  • Lessen, Lesson
  • Less, Fewer
  • Let, Leave
  • Lets, Let's
  • Lexical Density
  • Liable, Likely
  • Lie, Lay
  • Lighted, Lit
  • Like, As
  • Line
  • Linking Verbs
  • Lists
  • Literally, Figuratively
  • Lit, Lighted
  • Litotes
  • Little, A Little
  • Loan, Lend
  • Log On, Log Off, Logon, Logoff
  • Lonely, Alone
  • Longitude, Latitude
  • Loose, Lose
  • Lost, Lost Out
  • Lots
  • Mad, Angry
  • Margin Notes
  • Mass Nouns
  • Mathematical Equations
  • Maybe, May Be
  • May, Can
  • May, Might
  • Mean, Median, Average
  • Megabyte
  • Megahertz
  • Meiosis
  • Me, Myself, I
  • Metaphor
  • Metonymy
  • Mfr., Mfg.
  • Might Could
  • Might, May
  • Might of, Should of, Would of, Could of
  • Minimal Pairs
  • Misplaced Modifiers
  • Mixed Conditionals
  • Mixed Metaphor
  • Mnemonics
  • Modifiers
  • Monitor
  • Monosyllabic
  • Mood
  • More Than, Over
  • Morpheme
  • Most of All, Almost
  • Motor, Engine
  • Mouse Terminology
  • Multicolumn Lists
  • Myself, Me
  • Names
  • Negative Adverbs
  • Negative Formations
  • Negative Pronouns
  • Neither, Either
  • Neologism
  • Never
  • Nominal Adjectives
  • Nominative Absolutes
  • Nominative Case
  • Nominative Possessives
  • Noncount Nouns
  • Nondefining Relative Clause
  • Nonfinite Verbs
  • Noninherent Adjectives
  • Nonrestrictive Clauses
  • Notices
  • Noun Case
  • Noun Clause
  • Noun Phrase
  • Noun Plurals
  • Nouns
  • Nouns of Address
  • Number Abbreviations
  • Numbered List
  • Numbers or Words
  • Object
  • Object Complement
  • Objective Case
  • Off
  • Offline
  • On Account of
  • One
  • One Another, Each Other
  • Online, Offline
  • Only
  • Onomatopoeia
  • Open
  • Open Compounds
  • Ordinal Numbers
  • Over, More Than
  • Oxford Comma
  • Oxymoron
  • Page Breaks
  • Page Numbering
  • Palindromes
  • Paragraphs
  • Parallel Construction
  • Paraphrasing
  • Parentheses
  • Parenthetical Elements
  • Participle
  • Participial Phrase
  • Parts of Speech
  • Party
  • Passed, Past
  • Passive Voice
  • Past Perfect Progressive Tense
  • Past Perfect Tense
  • Past Progressive Tense
  • Past Simple Tense
  • People
  • Per
  • Percent
  • Percentage
  • Perfect Aspect
  • Perfect Infinitive
  • Perfect Tense
  • Period
  • Person
  • Personal Pronouns
  • Personification
  • Persuade, Convince
  • Phase, Faze
  • Phatic Speech
  • Phrasal Verbs
  • Phrases
  • Phrases and Words to Omit
  • Pidgin
  • Plagiarism
  • Pleonasm
  • Pluperfect
  • Plurals
  • Plurals of Numbers
  • Plus
  • P.M.
  • Point in Time
  • Polyptoton
  • Polyseme
  • Polysyllabic
  • Possessive Adjectives
  • Possessive Case
  • Possessive Pronouns
  • Possessives
  • Posted, Informed
  • Postmodifier
  • Precede, Proceed
  • Predeterminers
  • Predicates
  • Preface
  • Prefixes
  • Premodifier
  • Prepositional Phrase
  • Prepositions
  • Present Infinitive
  • Present Participle
  • Present Perfect Tense
  • Present Progressive Tense
  • Present Simple Tense
  • Press, Type, Click, Strike, Hit, Select
  • Previous
  • Principal, Principle
  • Problem Pronouns
  • Proceed, Precede
  • Progressive Verbs
  • Pronouns
  • Pronouns and Antecedent Agreement
  • Proper Adjectives
  • Proper Nouns
  • Protatis
  • Quantifiers
  • Question Mark
  • Question Types
  • Quitclaim
  • Quit, Exit
  • Quotation Marks
  • Raise, Rise
  • Rational, Rationale
  • Real
  • Reciprocal Pronouns
  • Recur, Reoccur
  • Redundancy
  • Reflexive Pronouns
  • Regard, Regards
  • Regular Verbs
  • Relative Adverbs
  • Relative Clauses
  • Relative Pronouns
  • Reoccur
  • Reported Speech
  • Restrictive Clauses
  • Resultative Adjective
  • Resumptive Modifier
  • Rhetorical Question
  • Rhyme
  • Right, Business
  • Right-click
  • Rise, Raise
  • Roman Numerals
  • Root, Rout, Route
  • Run
  • Run-On Sentences
  • Same
  • Sarcasm
  • Satire
  • Screen
  • Screen Terminology
  • Second Conditional
  • Select
  • Semicolon
  • Semiweekly, Semimonthly
  • Sensor, Censor
  • Sentence
  • Sentence Fragments
  • Sentence Subject
  • Sentence Types
  • Sentence Variety
  • Setup, Set Up
  • Sexist Language
  • Shall, Will
  • Shape
  • Should, Must
  • Should of
  • Should, Would
  • Shut Down, Shutdown
  • Sic,
  • Sign In, Sign Out, Sign On, Sign Up
  • Simile
  • Since, Because
  • Singular
  • Sit, Set
  • Site, Sight, Cite
  • Slang
  • Slash
  • Small Caps
  • So
  • Software Menus and Commands
  • Solidus
  • Some, Any
  • Sometime, Some Time
  • Sort of, Kind of
  • Spaces After Periods
  • Split Infinitive
  • Sr., Jr.
  • Stative Adjective
  • Stative Verb
  • Subheadings
  • Subject
  • Subject Complement
  • Subjective Case
  • Subjective Pronouns
  • Subject-Verb Agreement
  • Subject-Verb Inversion
  • Subjunctive
  • Submittal, Submission
  • Subordinate Clause
  • Subordinating Conjunctions
  • Suffix
  • Summative Modifier
  • Superlative
  • Syllable
  • Symbols and Special Characters
  • Sympathy, Empathy
  • Synecdoche
  • Synonyms
  • Table of Contents
  • Tables
  • Tag Question
  • Take, Bring
  • Tautology
  • Teach, Learn
  • Telephone Numbers
  • Temperature
  • Tense
  • Terabyte
  • Than I, Than Me
  • Than, Then
  • That, Which
  • There, Their, They're
  • Third Conditional
  • Time
  • Time Zones
  • Titled, Entitled
  • Titles
  • Tmesis
  • To, At
  • Tone
  • Topic Sentence
  • Totally
  • Toward, Towards
  • Transitions
  • Transitive Verb
  • Try and, Come and, Be Sure and
  • Type, Enter
  • Typeface, Font
  • Unbiased Language
  • Uncountable Noun
  • Underlining
  • Understatement
  • Until, By
  • Upload, Download
  • Uppercase
  • URL
  • U.S.
  • Used to
  • Utterance
  • Vain, Vane, Vein
  • Verbal Phrase
  • Verb Complement
  • Verb Forms
  • Verb Group
  • Verbiage
  • Verb Mood
  • Verbose Expressions
  • Verbs
  • Verb Tense
  • Versus, vs.
  • Vertical Lists
  • Visually Impaired, Blind
  • Voice
  • Voice Mail
  • Vowels
  • Wait On
  • Wander, Wonder
  • Web
  • Weblog
  • Web Pages, Web Site
  • Weights and Measures
  • Well, Good
  • Went, Gone
  • When, Whether
  • Where
  • Whether or Not
  • Which
  • Who's, Whose
  • Who, Which
  • Who, Whom
  • Will, Shall
  • Within, Inside of
  • Woman, Female
  • Wonder, Wander
  • Word Classes
  • Words or Figures
  • Wordy Expressions
  • Would of
  • Would, Should
  • Xmas, Christmas
  • Yes/No Questions
  • Zero Article
  • Zero Conditional
  • Zeugma
  • Zip Code
  • SECTION 3 Sample Business Documents
  • Abstracts
  • Acceptance Letter
  • Acknowledgment Letter
  • Adjustment Letter
  • Announcement Letter
  • Annual Report
  • Application Letter
  • Brochures
  • Business Letter
  • Business Plan
  • Collection Letter
  • Commendation Letter
  • Complaint Letter
  • Cover Letters
  • Directives
  • Email
  • Endorsement Letter
  • Forms
  • Fund-Raising Letter
  • Grant Proposals
  • Instructions
  • Introductions
  • Inquiry Letter
  • Job Descriptions
  • Job Offer Letter
  • Meeting Agenda
  • Meeting Minutes
  • Memorandum
  • Mission Statements
  • Newsletters
  • Notices
  • Permission Letter
  • Policies, Rules, or Guidelines
  • PowerPoint Presentations
  • Press Releases
  • Procedures
  • Progress Reports
  • Proposals
  • Questionnaires and Surveys
  • Reference Letters
  • Refusal Letter
  • Reports
  • Request Letters
  • Research Report
  • Resignation Letter
  • Résumés
  • Sales Letters
  • Seasonal Correspondence
  • Specifications
  • Speeches and Oral Presentations
  • Summaries
  • Termination of Employment Letter
  • Training Manual
  • Trip Report
  • User Guide
  • Warning Letter
  • Web Sites
  • White Papers