W4-e: Levels of formality

W4-eChoose an appropriate level of formality.

In deciding on a level of formality, consider both your subject and your audience. Does the subject demand a dignified treatment, or is a relaxed tone more suitable? Will readers be put off if you assume too close a relationship with them, or might you alienate them by seeming too distant?

For most college and professional writing, some degree of formality is appropriate. In a job application letter, for example, it is a mistake to sound too breezy and informal.

too informal I’d like to get that sales job you’ve got in the paper.
more formal I would like to apply for the position of sales associate advertised in the Peoria Journal Star.

Informal writing is appropriate for private letters, personal e-mail and text messages, and business correspondence between close associates. Like spoken conversation, informal writing allows contractions (don’t, I’ll ) and colloquial words (kids, kinda). Vocabulary and sentence structure are rarely complex.

In choosing a level of formality, above all be consistent. When a writer’s voice shifts from one level of formality to another, readers receive mixed messages.

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Words such as commenced and elucidated are inappropriate for the subject matter, and they clash with informal terms such as sucker pitch and fast windup.