Work emails

Write the work email you’ve been drafting in your head.

For asking for something, pushing back, following up, or delivering awkward news. Tell MyScribe who it’s for and what happened, and read the opening of your work email before you decide to pay.

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What to include

Four things
worth saying.

Difficult work emails get rewritten five times because they have to be clear and tactful at once. The structure is simple: say why you are writing, give only the facts the reader needs, and make the next step obvious.

Who is reading and what they already know.

A manager, a client, and a colleague each need a different amount of background.

The situation, briefly.

The facts that matter: deadlines, constraints, what has changed.

The ask.

One clear request or decision, stated early.

The next step.

What you will do, what you need from them, and by when.

What to leave out

And how long
to make it.

Three paragraphs of background before the point.
Apologizing for asking a reasonable question.
Vague closings such as “let me know your thoughts” when you need a decision.

Length. Most work emails should be about 150 words. Choose 400 when you need to set out options or a sequence of events.

Write mine with these in mind

An example

From details
to a finished draft.

What they wanted to say

Ask for priorities when deadlines overlap.

Three pieces of work are competing for Friday. Two can be completed well. The sender needs a decision about priorities and a revised deadline for the remaining item.

Read the original details

I'm writing to my manager Alex. The quarterly customer report and the revised onboarding guide are both due Friday. Yesterday Alex also asked me to prepare slides for Monday's leadership meeting. I can finish two of these three pieces by Friday, but can't complete all three to a good standard. The customer report is already halfway done. I need Alex to confirm which two should take priority and whether the remaining item can move to Tuesday. I'm willing to adjust the order. This is a request for priorities, not a complaint about the workload.

Written by MyScribe

Diplomatic · 149 words

Hi Alex,

I wanted to check in about priorities for Friday. Between the quarterly customer report, the revised onboarding guide, and the slides for Monday's leadership meeting, I can finish two to a good standard by Friday.

The quarterly customer report is already halfway done, and you asked me yesterday to prepare the slides for Monday. I want to make sure whatever I deliver is done well rather than rushed across all three.

Could you confirm which two should take priority, and whether the remaining one could move to Tuesday?

I'm happy to adjust the order I work in, so please let me know what suits you best. This is simply a request for direction on priorities, and your guidance will help me plan the next few days. Once I hear from you, I'll organize my work around your decision.

Thank you for your help with this.

Best regards,

Start a message like this

Illustrative examples generated by MyScribe from fictional details. The message wording is unedited.

Common questions

Before you begin.

How do I say no politely at work?

Be direct about what you cannot do, give a brief reason, and offer an alternative: a later date, a smaller scope, or a choice between priorities.

Can I include wording I want to keep?

Yes. Put exact phrases, figures, or names in your details and say you want them kept.

How much does a work email cost?

Reading the opening is free, with no account or card. If you want the rest, the complete message is $2.99 USD, paid once, at any of the three lengths. There is no subscription.

Why not use a general AI chatbot?

You can, if you have one and don’t mind working out what to ask and asking again until the tone is right. MyScribe is built only for messages like this one: describe the situation once, choose a tone, and the wording is handled. There is no account to set up, and you only pay if the free opening sounds right.

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