Closing Arguments: The Subtle Art of Email Endings

Have you ever found yourself writing an email and as  you reach the closing, you find you do not know how to sign off or say goodbye? Do you find that ‘Sincerely’ is too formal and ‘cheers’ is too informal?

Never fear, I am here.

Let me explain.

Formulas

In school you are taught how to write a letter and if you are of the internet generation, you probably were also taught how to write an e-mail. That’s all well and good, but here is where it gets interesting. To end a letter you have to use what is referred to as a ‘complimentary close’ or ‘closing’ (for the purposes of this post I will refer to it as the letter ending(s)).

What You Make of Time

Time takes on a very strange connotation when it comes to writing. Ok it’s not only with writing since most people experience that time flies when you’re having fun and crawls when you’re bored. But time seems to take a life of its own when you write or plan to write or procrastinate to write. It has a whimsical bent and is neurotic, bipolar and slightly schitzophrenic. Don’t believe me? Take an alarm clock and set it to go off in 10 minutes. Now start writing. Really, start writing, and then come back, I’ll still be here.

A Writer’s New Year’s Resolutions

1. Read
2. Write
3. Write
4. Read
5. Rewrite
6. Write some more

Since September the amount of time I’ve had to read and write has been pitifully little. My New Year’s resolutions can therefore come as no surprise.

5 Christmas Story Prompts

It’s almost December and I smell Christmas. In the spirit of the season, here are 5 prompts that might help you find some inspiration in that most happy or sad, annoying, stressful and all around crazy Holliday.

 Stranger than fiction

Writers and Their Videos

I love the Internet. You can find practically anything on it – including videos and films of authors being interviewed or documented or addressing a room full of graduating students. These are some of my favorites:

September: Getting Back into the Swing of Things

I’m so glad September is over. September always seems to be the most hectic month of the year. I find it even worse than December, mostly because it takes me by surprise…every year!

Where I can see the holiday craze of the festive season coming a mile ahead, I always forget that September is the month of adjustments.

Dear Journal… It’s Not You, It’s Me

We began so cordially only to quickly be inseparable. You were an extension of my thoughts, a constant reminder of ideas that came to me in different places at different times. You were the hard evidence that chronicled my consistent observations of the world around me, the interesting passages I’d quote from essays or interviews, the pages of fiction books I’d jot down to reference later, the advise a writing instructor would give… all in all, you helped me in making links between this and that, and now I see my creativity shine in you.

Steinbeck on Getting Started

In the Art of Fiction No.45 from The Paris Review, one of my favorite American authors John Steinbeck offers the following advice on getting started:

Now let me give you the benefit of my experience in facing 400 pages of blank stock—the appalling stuff that must be filled. I know that no one really wants the benefit of anyone’s experience which is probably why it is so freely offered. But the following are some of the things I have had to do to keep from going nuts.