Quick & Painless Business Writing

Chapter 13

The End

Here we are—at the shortest chapter of this book, our last lesson, and our goodbye. No surprise; we’ve been writing about endings. These verbal plugs aren’t exactly magical; in fact, in most cases they’re unnecessary. If you’re writing and there’s nothing else to say, just stop.

Let’s look at this book for a case study. I started by giving a big picture of writing issues you should remember as we moved along. Then, I went from smaller issues (word use), to bigger issues (tone), to more pervasive and sweeping issues (structure). Now I’m at the last part of a well-structured piece: endings. What more to say? I said all I intended. I have the right number of words my publisher requested for the book. So what’s next? A wrap-up. ...