before  you  begin  to  write.  A  plan  of  some  kind  is necessary  to  make  sure  you  have  included  everything you intended to include and have arranged things in a clear and orderly way. Whether you outline the letter completely, make brief notes or carry your plan in your mind will depend upon the length of the letter and your own  methods  of  working. Purpose Planning cannot begin without a clear purpose. Your first step is to be sure you understand exactly what the letter  is  intended  to  do.  Preparing  a  statement  on  the subject of the letter will help you clarify the purpose and furnish guidelines for what is needed and what should be  omitted. It is possible for a letter to deal with more than one subject, but usually this is not advised unless the subjects are  closely  related.  A  reply  on  one  subject  may  be prepared  in  hours,  whereas  days  or  weeks  may  elapse before  an  appropriate  answer  can  be  made  on  another subject. If both questions are asked in the same letter, confusion  is  likely  to  result.  Furthermore,  one  depart- ment  of  the  recipient  command  may  prepare  the  reply on one subject and a different department on another. So, even though you have to write several letters to the same command on the same day, it is better for you to do  so  than  to  combine  unrelated  matters. The   following   are   some   common   purposes letters: of l l l l l l To request permission or authorization to act To request that action be taken To supply information or instructions To reply to a request for permission or authoriza- tion to act To reply to a request that action be taken To reply to a request for information While not every letter you draft will fall into one of the  previous  categories,  the  categories  do  serve  as examples  of  how  to  analyze  and  plan  a  letter.  For instance, when the purpose is to request something, you must be certain the request is definitely and clearly stated. Usually, there should also be a statement as to why  the  request  is  being  made  and  any  additional explanation   or   suggestions   that   are   required   or appropriate. When a Navy form letter is written in reply, the receipt  is  sometimes  acknowledged,  not  only  by  citing the letter as a reference but in the body of the reply. If a request has been made, the most important thing in the reply is a clear statement as to whether the request is granted  or  denied  Further  explanation,  limitations  or suggestions should be included as appropriate. Long letters may need a summarizing statement as the final paragraph. Organization The order the various parts of the letter are arranged in should be planned with the reader in mind. A letter of request, for instance, may begin with the request itself, followed by an explanation of why the request is made. However,  sometimes  it  may  be  clearer  to  the  reader  if the letter begins with a discussion of the situation and leads up to the request. A letter of reply frequently begins by  acknowledging  the  letter  received.  It  is  important  for you to do the following: (1) see the body of the letter as a succession of units, (2) arrange these units in what seems the most satisfactory order, (3) complete each unit before moving on to the next and (4) maintain continuity by providing a transition from one unit to another. In letters of average length, each important unit may be one paragraph, although there is no rule about this, For example, an explanation of reasons why something should be done may take more than one paragraph. Some letters, on the other hand, maybe so simple that one paragraph is enough for the entire body. Just as each letter has a subject, each paragraph covers a topic or subtopic. Each paragraph has its own order structure so that  one  idea  naturally  leads  to  another  and  one paragraph leads to another. Word  Selection Choosing the right words is a long step toward good style.  The  best  words  are  those  that  are  precise  in meaning,  suited  to  the  intended  reader,  and  as  short, simple and direct as possible. Words can miss the mark of exactness in several ways. One of the most obvious is choosing the wrong word from two that sound or look alike. How often have you read, “He was appraised of the situation. . .”? It probably would have been better in the first place simply to have said, “He was told of the situation...” but in any event, the writer should have known that to tell is to apprise, and to appraise means to evaluate. 1-15