Formal Memo
The formal memo assignment takes a bit longer than the Resume and Job Letters assignment. Again, you should not procrastinate. I am not capable of sitting down and writing lengths of papers at a time. I also do not do well pulling all nighters. Taking the assignment in small chunks will make it easier to finish in a timely manner. It will also alleviate any stress you may cause from trying to complete an assignment the night before. I’m sure some of you have done that before.
Dr. Art will give presentations on the types of memos you can create; there are three. If you were absent, this information can be found in your textbook. Use your index. I suggest before you write your memo, you fill out the memo worksheet provided in class. You are required to turn this in, so it is not a waste of time. I filled it out after I had already written my formal memo. If I could do it over, I would most certainly look at the worksheet first. It would have made my life much easier.
The informative memo is the easiest to write. Dr. Art will expect between 1000 and 1500 words. If you write an informative memo, it will be much more difficult to reach the minimum word count. The persuasive memo will take a bit more time to write, but is well worth it if you have trouble thinking of things to say. Sometimes I find myself with writers block and cannot get 200 words on the paper, let alone 1000. Remember; do not try to write the entire thing all at once.
Keep your audience and goal in mind. Your language in the memo should match the intellect of your audience. In many classes you may have already taken, your teacher has probably asked that you do not use simple sentences and that you use higher vocabulary. In technical writing, this is not the case. Your writing should be directly influenced by the audience it is written to. If your audience is third graders, what would they understand in your paper? In the assignment directions, Dr. Art clearly states, “To write an effective memo, you will therefore need to carefully analyze your particular audience and provide information in a format and tone that clearly matches their specific needs and the specific goal that you want to achieve.”
As with every other assignment in class, it is imperative you have your memo edited before you turn it in. With so many words, it is easy to miss typos and simple errors in your writing by editing it yourself. Have a friend read it. Pick a person from your specific audience to read it. See if they can understand what you’re talking about. The writing center and Dr. Art are always available as well.
Below is my Formal Memo. I chose to write an informative memo because I thought it would be easy and less time consuming. This was not the case and I would pick another type of memo if I could. As you can see in my writing, it is reaching and grasping for more things to say. Writing the memo worksheet after the memo also hindered my efforts.
