First, I expect your letter to be in the business letter format discussed in class and shown in the power point presentation that sets out the elements of a business letter(300 words) — heading, date, inside address, and so forth.  Part of your grade will be determined by how closely you adhere to the required letter format. 

Also, you are limited to a one-page letter, 12pt font size and 1 inch margins.  Refer to your hand written draft and decide what information is important enough to include and, after that, trim the excess from your writing.  End a sentence when it can and should end.  Refrain from overuse of adverbs and adjectives.  Do not prune so much, however, that you lose the message.  Remember that concise writing is typically in the active voice, and that conciseness is the combination of brevity and completeness.  

Finally, I am expecting that you will carefully proofread your letter to eliminate punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors.  You will benefit if you leave enough time for drafting, rewriting, proofreading, and proofreading again.  Also, do not rely entirely on your word processor’s spell check and grammar check features; if you allow it to, the computer will embarrass you.