Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Wed, Nov 19 2003
Is This What They Mean By Sue-HAPPY?
I'm just now catching up on all this trouble. The lawyer who sent the letter demanding that Justene remove her "message page" actually looks like a nice enough guy. I guess that's why he signed the letter "Sincerely".
I do think we need some new business correspondence etiquette. When you begin a letter such as this with "Dear so-and-so" and end with "Sincerely", and everything between those two is a threat (in this case a threat of legal action), it seems to me that we need some new salutations and closings that would be appropriate for this type of correspondence. Instead of "dear" we could use "notice to" or just "Hey, You". "Dear" is just too friendly and cozy when you're about to wreck someone's day. And rather than using "sincerely" to close, "unpretentiously" might do better, or "earnestly", or perhaps "disdainfully" in such a negative situation. "Dear" and "Sincerely" are just too friendly and too much of a bait-and-switch-and-then-bait-and-switch-again type of thing for my sensitive nature. Then again, as a writer I must admit that a plot twist is what keeps your audience on the edge of their seats.
Read more of The Perils Of Justene here.
posted at: 08:14 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
I'm just now catching up on all this trouble. The lawyer who sent the letter demanding that Justene remove her "message page" actually looks like a nice enough guy. I guess that's why he signed the letter "Sincerely".
I do think we need some new business correspondence etiquette. When you begin a letter such as this with "Dear so-and-so" and end with "Sincerely", and everything between those two is a threat (in this case a threat of legal action), it seems to me that we need some new salutations and closings that would be appropriate for this type of correspondence. Instead of "dear" we could use "notice to" or just "Hey, You". "Dear" is just too friendly and cozy when you're about to wreck someone's day. And rather than using "sincerely" to close, "unpretentiously" might do better, or "earnestly", or perhaps "disdainfully" in such a negative situation. "Dear" and "Sincerely" are just too friendly and too much of a bait-and-switch-and-then-bait-and-switch-again type of thing for my sensitive nature. Then again, as a writer I must admit that a plot twist is what keeps your audience on the edge of their seats.
Read more of The Perils Of Justene here.
posted at: 08:14 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
