Use Caution, Valentine

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan make cyber courtship look easy in the film “You’ve Got Mail.” But writer beware: The e-love note you send this Valentine’s Day may get you a date, but it could also derail your career.

“Write an e-valentine--or any personal e-mail--on company time and you could find yourself in violation of your organization’s e-mail policy and out of work,” cautions Nancy Flynn, a corporate writing coach. Flynn co-wrote “Writing Effective E-Mail: Improving Your Electronic Communication” (Crisp, 1998) with her husband, Tom. The book provides tips on writing subject lines, the danger of using capitalization and exclamation points, how to incorporate salutations and signatures into e-mails, and more.

She offers these tips for those still intent on wooing electronically: Beware of hidden readers, write as though Mom were reading, and compose yourself before composing e-mail. And finally, keep the end in sight.

“Today’s perfect romance could turn into tomorrow’s battle zone,” Flynn adds. “Consider the embarrassing messages Monica Lewinsky once intended for Linda Tripp’s eyes only.”