What Are The Most Common Email Writing Mistakes?

Email writing is an art form. So many people think of email like Twitter or Facebook, where all they need to do is blabber on as quickly as possible and the person on the receiving end will easily understand their point and respond accordingly.

But email is much more personal, much longer, and much easier to misunderstand. Emails are important pieces of communication like any other, and that means that it’s crucial that you understand exactly what people need to read and, perhaps most importantly, what mistakes you need to avoid to ensure that your email is well understood.

5 Most Common Email Writing Mistakes

The following are some of the most common mistakes that people make when writing up emails. It is by no means an exhaustive list – there is plenty of room for error when writing an email, and taking the time to learn email writing techniques is crucial for your long term success – but each of these is a mistake that you need to avoid if you expect your email to be read with the message that was intended.

Mistake 1: Poor Grammar/Spelling

“It’s the Internet” is the most common response to those that question the poor spelling and grammar that are often seen online. People use the internet as an excuse to type with almost no grammatical consistency or spelling accuracy. But what they don’t realize is that poor spelling and grammar affect two things:

• They make it harder to read and understand your email (or any message – even those on Twitter and Facebook) – which causes miscommunication and “skimming” since poor grammar and spelling are irritating to the eye.
• They make you look like someone that isn’t that intelligent. Even those that also use poor grammar and spelling will read your writing and not see you in the most positive of light. They may not care, but good grammar and spelling are crucial if you’re trying to leave a positive impression.

Mistake 2: Block Text

Large blocks of text are irritating to the eye. One of the first things you learn as a content writer is that you need to break paragraphs down into easier to read chunks, using bullet points and subheadings to prevent the eye from getting bored. The same is true in email, where large amounts of block text get skimmed over and important messages may be completely missed.

Mistake 3: No Recapping

Similarly, you need to make sure you recap. People don’t read emails like they read books. They don’t try as hard as possible to remember each point that was brought up. At the end of any long email, make sure that you recap the important points in some way. That added emphasis will ensure that your message was shared correctly, and will prevent skimmers from missing the most important points.

Mistake 4: No Call to Action

Even if you’re writing an email to your friend, make sure that you’re putting something in the email that necessitates writing back quickly. For example, “email me back when you get this” or “call me tonight to talk about it.” Because email is so common these days, many people read it and decide to write back later, only to never write back at all. That’s a problem, since it can create friction between you and the recipient as you wait for a response. So make sure that you’re telling the person what they need to do next so that they’re prodded into doing it sooner.

Mistake 5: Responding Unclearly

Finally, an incredible common mistake occurs not from initial emails, but from response emails. People have a tendency to write long response emails all at once, addressing each point in the previous email. But they forget that the other person doesn’t always remember what they wrote as well, and this can cause your email to appear disjointed or unclear.

Make sure that you’re as clear as possible with your response. If you can, repeat the sentence or question you’re responding to, and don’t be afraid to explain how you interpret what the person said before you write back.

Takeaway: Email Writing is a Skill

Writing an email is not just another easy internet thing that you can complete quickly without giving it any thought. It’s a skill that you either have or don’t. You need to make sure that you’re harnessing your ability to write an effective email, otherwise people aren’t going to care what you say or respond to you the way you’ d like.

About the Author: Micah Abraham is a writer, and co-owns Great Leap Studios. He can be reached for comment at www.greatleapstudios.com.