Writing at Work is for people who do or will write while on the job whether the writing be an interoffice memo, e-mail, a status report, a lab report, marketing materials, or a letter to a customer. The philosophy behind Writing at Work is that such writing needn't be stale and unoriginal but can instead be a sophisticated piece of work that positively reflects the competence of its composer to all who read it. Rather than dwell on picky, little "rules" that you must adhere to when writing, Writing at Work focuses on the real rules of grammar and aspects of style that you really need to know in order to write with confidence. Using examples realistically drawn from work settings, Writing at Work presents each topic in a manner that is at once accessible and inviting. Spread throughout the text are exercises that provide you with ample opportunity to write, revise, and correct the kinds of written tasks typically encountered at work. You can immediately gauge your progress by checking your work against the answers listed at the end of each chapter.

Writing on the Job * A Model of the Writing Process * Real Rules, Nonrules, and House Rules * Parts of Sentences and Parts of Speech * Sentence Completeness * Common Problems with Verbs * Placing Modifiers Effectively * Pronoun Problems * Commas * Semicolons and Colons * Hyphens * Dashes and Parentheses * Clear Reference * Lean Words versus Redundant Words * Technical Vocabulary versus Jargon * Preferring a Verbal Style * Unpacking Noun Compounds * Recognizing Active and Passive Voice * When to Prefer the Passive Voice * Projecting Personality * Managing Sentence Emphasis * Parallel Structure * Maintaining Flow from Sentence to Sentence * Defining a Professional Look * Conclusion: The Marks of a Professional Style