What is Written Communication?

Written communication is communication by means of written symbols or

sign that is communicated by or to or between people or groups.

Written Communication
In written communication, a message can be transmitted via email, letter,
report, memo, etc.

The message, in written communication, is influenced by the vocabulary and

grammar used, writing style, precision and clarity of the language used.

Written communication is the most common form of communication being

used in business.

So, it is believed core among business skills. Memos, reports, bulletins, job
descriptions, employee manuals, and electronic mail are the types of written
communication used for internal communication.
For communicating with the external environment in writing, electronic mail,
Internet Websites, letters, proposals, telegrams, faxes, postcards, contracts,
advertisements, brochures, and news releases are used.

In the written form, it may require the drafting of letters and circulars,
proposals, memos and business reports of varying kinds and includes

 Memo Report
 Office order
 Circulars
 Graphs/Charts
 Staff Newsletter
 E-mail
 Form/Questionnaire
 Letter
 Notice, Agenda, Notes on Agenda
 Minutes of Meetings
 Advertisement
 Customer Newsletter
 Press Release
 Invitation
 Leaflet/Brochure/Handbills
 Manuals

Characteristics of Written
Communication
Written communication is a creative activity. It needs creative facts. The
creative facts are produced by a human mind.

The main characteristics of a written communication are as follows:

Characteristics of Written Communication

Written or Recorded
Written communication is an effective process of transferring a message. The
sender writes the message in the form of a letter, report, chart, diagram,
questionnaire and passes to the receiver.

Creative Activity
Written communication is a creative activity. All the creative activities are
produced by the human mind.
Human Activity
Human-being can write or explain an idea, opinion and information in written
form. Therefore, written communication is a human activity.

Language
Written communication can be expressed in a language. It may be Hindi,
English, any code language, chart, figure etc. The selection of the language
depends on the convenience of the sender and the receiver.

Permanent Record
Written communication has proof of evidence. It provides a permanent record
for a future reference.

Legal Evidence
When the message is transferred through written communication, these are
also used as legal evidence.

Lengthy Process
The process of written communication is very lengthy. The message is
transferred in this process through several channels. Therefore, it takes more
time.

Accuracy
Written messages are generally prepared in a peaceful environment. It is
more effective for achieving future goals of an organization. Therefore, it is
prepared by the sender with and accuracy.

Advantages of Written
Communication
Some of the advantages of written communication are:

Advantages of Written Communication

 It provides future reference. It becomes a permanent record and beneficial
for formulating new policies.

 It is accurate. Mistakes are not likely to occur as it is open for verification

and its authenticity can be checked.
 It does not require physical presence of both parties.

 It ensures transmission of information in uniform manner.

 It is useful to transmit complex information and it facilitates the

assignation of responsibilities.

 It usually removes conflicts and misunderstanding.

 It facilitates to convey message to a large number of persons

Disadvantages of Written
Communication
Some of the disadvantages of written communication are:

 Unlike oral communication, written communication doesn’t bring instant

feedback.

 It takes more time in writing a message as compared to word of mouth and

number of people struggles with their writing ability.

 Written communication does not take personal touch as such sentiments

could not pass in the desired manner.

 Written communication is used with a view of complete information and

explanations. The message becomes very lengthy and the receiver does not
read the message carefully.
Purpose of Written Communication
Business letters are not in any way less vital than the blood circulation system
in body when we talk and count it with reference to business activities.

Needs for sending letter in business is felt for several purposes. Some of such
purposes are as under.

Purpose of Written Communication

To widen contact scope

As already mentioned told, several parties are contacted in business and it is
not possible to contact with all parties concerned. Thus, letters are the means
that extend the scope of business activities to the desired extent.

Building Goodwill
Letters contribute largely in building goodwill for a business and making
friendly relations with concerned parties if these are written in influence
manner. These act as an advertisement for building goodwill of the business
concerned.

Documentary Evidence
Letters may be filed before a court as written evidence in the form of a
business contract. Letters bear the signature of the authorised person. Hence,
letters act as evidence in the course of deciding on liabilities.

Lasting Impression
As the letters are retained by the readers, these have a lasting impression on
them. These are repeatedly read by readers unless a response is given. They
are also remembered by them or make a niche for them in their memory.

Provide information
In business, several parties communicate one another on a number of topics
or matters. Business letters with information written on them make such
transactions of information very easy. Hence, letters are the most important
medium in view of providing information.

Reference and Record

Everyone may agree that it is not possible to keep memory afresh every time
in respect of the contracts executed, transaction made and the events taking
place in the course of running the business. Letters, however, can easily be
used as record for future references. These can use as a reference whenever
such need is felt.

Economic Communication
Communication through letters is always economic as no extra cost is
incurred in this mode sending information from one place to another. It is
cheaper than personal contact with the parties.
Drafting:
The second step in the 3×3 writing process is Drafting.

Drafting includes Organizing, Researching, Investigating this steps analyzes the

information necessary for a message.

After collection of the information, it is drafted and analyzed to make it more creative
and interesting for the reader, it focuses on short sentences with ideas to build the
paragraph coherence.

Gathering data, Researching on company files, Old data analysis is done to gather
information and make it more accurate.

Revising:

The third step in the 3×3 writing process is Revising.

Revising includes. Proofread, Evaluate, Revise.

The last step focuses on the grammatical errors and makes sure the content
delivers a proper message which is to be delivered. It takes time to read every
message carefully,

Thus in order to make the content error free, it is necessary to check it 3 times.

After the content is revised it previewed that the content achieves the targeted
purpose and reflects the message properly.

SPECIFIC WRITING FEATURES

Defining Coherence in Writing

Have you ever read something that was hard to follow, where the writer jumped around from
idea to idea and did not have unity or consistency to connect the words, sentences, and
paragraphs? That is something that you want to avoid in your own writing. But how do you do
that?
Coherence in writing is the logical bridge between words, sentences, and paragraphs.
Coherent writing uses devices to connect ideas within each sentence and paragraph.
Main ideas and meaning can be difficult for the reader to follow if the writing lacks coherence.

Coherence Between Words

Between each word, coherence can be created by parallelism. 
Parallel structure means using similar grammatical constructions between words in sentences.
Parallelism is particularly important for words in lists.
If you're writing a list of things someone likes to do, then each activity in the list should take the
same grammatical form.
For instance, if one verb in the list takes on the '-ing' gerund form, like 'running,' then the other
verbs in the list should also be in the gerund form.
An incoherent structure would be to say:
Sarah likes to jump, running, and skate.
Instead, the list should be parallel like this:
Sarah likes jumping, running, and skating.

Coherence Between Sentences

Coherence can be created between sentences through repetition and transitional devices.
Repetition of words across sentences helps to reiterate the same ideas between sentences.
One way to use repetition to create coherence is to repeat the same word or phrase at the end of
one sentence and the beginning of the next sentence to show how the ideas connect.
Here is an example of sentences that create coherence through repetition:
The most important part of an essay is the thesis statement. The thesis statement introduces the
argument of the essay. The thesis statement also helps to create a structure for the essay.
In this example, the repetition of the phrase 'thesis statement' helps to unify the three sentences.
It is a phrase that ends the first sentence and transitions into the next sentence by starting with
that same phrase.
Another way to create coherence between sentences is through transitional devices.
There are many types of transitional devices that show time and help ideas flow smoothly.
Transitional words, such as 'first', 'later', and 'then', are a few examples of transitional devices
that show time to help ideas flow more smoothly. Transitional devices are like signposts that tell
the reader what is coming up ahead and where the discussion is going.

Coherence Between Paragraphs

Transitional words can also be used between paragraphs. Words such as:

 Therefore
  However
 Yet
 Thus
 First
 Later
 Then

can not only be used between sentences, but between paragraphs to connect them.
Other ways to create coherence between paragraphs include having a consistent paragraph
structure and point of view.
The structure of a coherent paragraph includes a topic sentence, which focuses on the main idea.
The topic sentence usually comes first in a paragraph.
The topic sentence is followed by supporting sentences that develop the idea, and finally, a
concluding sentence to tie it all together.
Transitional words then bridge the gap between paragraphs, and the structure starts anew with
another topic sentence for the next paragraph.
Finally, consistent point of view is a way to create coherence between paragraphs. 
Point of view is the narrator's position in telling the story. The types of point of view in writing
are: