Introduction

Dear Reader,

All letters should be difficult to write. That’s because you should take your time to lay out your thoughts, wishes, or demands in a careful, considered way.

Think of all the times you have blurted out something (or wished you had said something other than what you did). Wouldn’t it have been great to say, “Wait a minute. Let me think about what it is I want and how it would be best for me to respond.”

The purpose of this book, the third in a series of collections of letters we have published, is to help you think about difficult communication. There’s probably not a letter in this book that exactly matches the situation you face, but as you read through this collection there are many phrases and sentences and strategies you can use.

For our purposes, we’re not going to be purists about matters of style. You can choose the form of salutation and thanks you think best. Instead we choose to concentrate on showing you ways to express your thoughts and wants in the clearest and most direct way.

The best way to write a letter is imagine you are speaking directly to the recipient. You have the advantage of being able to think carefully about what you want to say, but in the end the letter should sound very much like the words you would say across a desk or the kitchen table.

Unlike most any other book you might buy, we happily encourage you to make use of our words. Pick up phrases, whole sentences, and long paragraphs and adapt them to your needs.

And although this book uses the word “letters” in its title, that is by no means the only use you can make of the five hundred examples you’ll find. Use our examples to construct your own letter, e-mail, or text message. Or read them carefully so that you think about what you plan to say face to face or over the phone.

Here’s what you can do:

• Need to write a letter to a friend or a family member on a touchy subject? We’ve got plenty of examples.

• Got something you need to get off your chest and aimed at a government official, a politician, or someone in the school system? Read on.

• Are you running a small business or employed by one? We’ve got basic letters about looking for a job, handling your work assignments, hiring, firing, instituting a layoff or a cutback, and most of the other essential details of the workplace.

• Getting the runaround from a store or a contractor or someone else with whom you do business? We’ll help you stand up for your rights.

• Does your civic organization need help raising funds, spending money, or fixing all that is wrong in town? We’ve got some ideas.

Go forth and write difficult letters (and other forms of communication). We hope this book will make the task a bit easier.

—Corey Sandler and Janice Keefe