Not a lot of planning goes into the writing of a typical email. And that’s OK. Frankly, most emails don’t require a whole lot of preparation because they are either quick questions or quick answers to questions. It’s when you’re dealing with more complex matters that contain a lot of text, explanation or uncertainty that you need to take the time to plan your message. Which means you literally need to set aside enough time to make sure that you are able to write a message that accomplishes your goals, that you state your case clearly, that you get the attention of your readers, that you don’t offend them or make yourself look bad by sending something that’s riddled with errors. Overall, the more important your message the more time you should devote to writing it.
The first step for important messages is to make sure that you’ve given yourself enough time to draft your email. Then make sure you can take the time to proofread what you’ve written and edit your message to make any changes. If what you have to say is likely to cause confusion or an emotional response, get someone else to proofread your message for errors and (especially) for tone. If you find yourself writing an emotional response to someone else’s message, put your reply aside for a while so you can cool down before sending it. After a little break you may find that you don’t want to send it after all.
Of course these suggestions are appropriate for any writing that you do, but they are even more important for email because we tend to treat it as such a casual, offhand means of communicating. But don’t let those smiley faces fool you, email and the responses it provokes can be extremely serious.
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