How to Wiite a Lettei

ttt" urt of *titiog u tetter takespractice,knowledgeaboutproperfolm and the ability to

put into words the thoughlsand feelingswhich are associatedwith the letter. Leamingto
write a letter can be difficult, as there are multiple types of letters which can vldtten. To
aloid the time that it may take to leam to wdte eachone of theseletters,if you are ableto
leamto wdte a basicletter, that will help you to crealelette$ for a variety of occasions.

Parlsof the l€tter:

l Y o u r a dd re ss
At the top of yout letter, you will put your addrcss,so the readerwill know whercto send
rheirreplyto.

2 Date
Put the dateon which tlre letter was wdtt€n in the format Month Day Year i.e. June, l5'
2009.

3 .lnsideAddress
The insideaddressis qdytgguiir€d for a businessletter andwill include the addressof the
Aersonyou are \rriting to along with the name of the recipient, their title and company
name.If vou are not surewho the letter shouldbe addressed to either leaveit blank or try
to put in ; fitle, i.e. "Director of HurnanResources".
Il The Greeting
The geeting will addressthe individual that the letter is being sent to. This is usually
comoletedin the form of "Dear Anne" or "Hey Anne", for lessfomal letterc.

.( The IntroductoryParagaph
r'
The first pamgraphand will generallyoutline the purposefor the letter ard the reasoo
that the letter ii biing sent.This canaddrcssany issuesthat are outstandingandis usedto
set the tone for the entire rest of the letter' ln this first paragraph,the summaryof the
letter canbe found andthe inteotionswhich will be displayedthroughthe rest of the letter
shouldbe outlined. From the first paragraphof the letter, the inhoductory paragraph,the
individual shouldbe able to notethe tone ofthe letter.

l-The Body
The body ofthe letter will expanduponthe inhoductoryparagraphandthe individual can
extendtheir thoughts and feelings further when it comesto the letter. The body of the
letter canbe anywherefrom multiple pagesfor pe$onal letters,to one pageor two pages
for mostbusinesslette$ and othert,?es ofprcposals.

7 TheClosiq
In the closing ofthe letter, the individual will closethe letter and fmish any thoughtsthat
have beenmentioned.The closing of the letter comesin vadous forms fiom yours truly,
for thoseindividuals that are familiar with one another,to a traditional sincerelywhich is
a ve$atile closingthet canbe usedin a vadety of letkrs detailing many situations.
 The Presentationofthe Letter
The presentationof thg letter canbe hand-wdttenfor lessformal lette$ that arc ad&essed
to fiien<lsand family members,especiallythank-you letters. In the oasethal you have
illegible han<lwriting,you may want to considertyping the letter in thesecases,although
properetiquettedictatesagainstthis tlpe ofbehavior.

Fomal lette$ which are wdtten on behalf of businessesto or profgssionalcontacts

shouldremaingpewritten and grammaticaland spelling error ftee Theset'?es of letters
E
E
should be legibli and professionaland therefore fping the letter is one of the most
E effective wayi to ensuri ttrat the letter demonstratesa professionalappearancethrough
the entire courseof the letter, thereby creatinga positive impressionon the recipientof
the letter.

t As well as outward presentation,it is important to determinethe tone which will be

witten in the letter, including a professionaltone or a tone that will be taken with fiiends
or family membersin a mors infomal setting.The tone should be establishedftom the
greetingofthe letter, into the introductory paragraph,tfuoughout-theentire body of the

F ietter and eveninto the closing statementand closing greetingofthe lettgr. Readtbrough
the letter once it has beencompletedto ensurethat the tone remainsthe same'The tone
can be adjwted basedon the languagewhich is used thrcugh the letter, as well as the

t
greetings(familiar as opposedto formal).

t
Purposeofa Business Letter
e U*i""* t"tt"t t f.tt"l way of communicatingbetweentwo or more parties There
are many different" uses and business
busin9ssletters. lJusrnessletters can be;jnformational,
Business leters Det)nrornauon?u'
6)persuasiveg,lnotivational,ollromotional. Businesslettersshouldbe lyped andprinted out
' on standard8.5"x 11" whitepaper.

Elementsofa GoodLetter
.Themost importantelementofwdting a good letter is your ability to identiry andwdte to
your audienCe.If you are addressingyour letter to the depafimentof human r€sources'
avoid using highly technical terms that only engineerswould understand,even if your
letter is addressedto an engineeringcompany,chancesare that the personneliu human
resoucesdoesnot have an engineeringbackground.

The next elementis that you make sur€your prcsentyour objeativein a cleaxand concisg
marmer.Dont be vague about your objective,most peoplewill not have the patienceto
sit there and guessai the meaningof your letter or the time to rcad a long-windedletter,
details.
just get to tha point without going into unnecessary

Another important element to rememberis to pmain profgssional Even if you are

priting a complaint letter, remainpolite and courtbous,simply statethe problem(s)along
with any other relevantinformation andbe sureto avoid threalsand slander'
Business
LetterFormat
BlockFormat:BusinessLetter

RetumAddrcssLine I I
RetumAddressLine 2

Date(Month Day, Year) 2

Mr.,MrsJMs./Dr.Full nameof recipient.3

TitlePosilionof Recipient.
CompanyName
AddressLine I
AddressLine 2

DearMs./Mrs.Mr. Last Name:4

Subject:Title ofSubject5

Body Paragraph1

Body Paragraph2

Body Paragraph3

Closing(Sincerely...),
7

Signature8

Your Name (Pdnted)9

YourTitle

Enclosures (2) 10
T;pist Initials.11

The block fomat is the simplestformat; a1lofthe writing is flush againstthe left margin.
 SamDleBusinessLetter
3519FrontStreet
CA 65286
MountCelebrcs,

October5, 2004

Ms. BettyJohnson
AccormtsPayable
The Cooking Store
765 Berliner Plaza
IndustdalPoint,CA 68534

DearMs Johnson:
Cooking Store has been late with
It has come to my attention that youl company' The
payingtheir invoicesfor the pastthr€emonths'
beforethe due <late'we have
In orderto encourageour customersro pay for their invoices
;#;;;;d;""J *tt"'" *itt give'vou 2olooff vour invoice if vou pav us
-oo"t
wiihin 10 daysof receivingthe invoice'

your compary ot oot

I hope that everything is going well for y-ouand l:l-T,"-:"" you can
lf you have any questtons'
bieeestcustomers,an<lwe appreciateyour business
fe!ifr"" to conta"tm" ar (555)555-5555'

Sincerely.

Signature

Bob Powers
AccountsReceivable

Points
neededifil the
1. YourAddress:('lot needed ls printed
letter is
theletter pn on paperwith the companyletterhead
on il.): I he retum address.oltle sent
al-ready senderof thi letter so the recipient can easily
andthedate
vouraddress
reptvto skip a tinebetween
l;;i';;;,;;;Ja
in fre format Month Day Year i e
2. Date; Put the date on which the letter was witten skip3
people
(some
ffiff;;, ffi,. &ti" ri*'t"t**" trt"aateandtheinsideaddress
or 4 lines after the date).

3.lnsideAd&ess:Theaddressofthepersonyouareudtingtoalongwithtbenameof
not surewho the letter shouldbe
the reciDienl,their title and companyname,iiyou are
addressedto either leave it blank, but try to put ir a tide, i.e. "Director of Human
Resources".Skip a line betweenthe dateandthe salutation.

4. Salutatioo:Dear Ms.,MIs'Mr. Last Namei, Dear Dfuectorof Deparhent Name: or To

whom It May Concem: if recipient'snameis unknown. Note that there is a colon after
the salutation.Skip a line betweenthe salutationind the subjectliae or body'

5. SubjectLine (optional): Makes it easierfor the rccipient to find out what the letter is
about.Skip a line betweenthe subjectline andthe body.

6. Body: The birdy is where you write the contentof tle letter; the paragaphs shouldbe
si4le space<lwith a skippedline betweeneachparagraph.Skip a line betweenfhe endof
the body andthe closing.

7. Closing:Let's the readerknow that you are finished with your letter; usually endswith
Sincerely,Sincerelyyours, Thank you' and so on. Note that there is a comma after ihe
end of tle closing and only the first wod in the closing is capitalized. Skip 3-4 lines
betweenthe closing andthe printed name,sothat therc is room for the signatue'

8. Signatwe: Your signaturewill go in this section,usually signedin black or blue ink

with a pen.

9; PrintedName: The printed version of your name,and if desiredyou can put yow title
or position on the line undameathit. Skip a lille betweenthe pdnted name ard the
enclosure.

I 0. Enclosue: If letter containsother doclrmentother than the letter itself your letter will
ir\cludethe word "Enclosure."Iftherc is more than one you would q?e, "Enclosues (#)"
with the # being the number of other documentsenclosedthat doesnt include the letter
irself.

11. ReferenceInitials: If someoneother tlan yourself typed the letter you will include
your initials in capital l€ttem followed by the typist's initials in lower case in the
following format; AG/qs or AG:gs.

Friendly Letter Writins

Purpose ofa FriendlYLener
A {iiendly letter is a way of communicatingbetweentwo people(sometimesmor€)who
areusualiy well acquainted.Thereare many usesandreasonsfor writing a ftiendly letter,
but usualiy friendly letters will consistoftopics on a personall€vel. Fdendly letters can
eitherbe print€d or hald-wdtten.

FriendlyLenerWritiDg
The fiiendly letter is typically less fomal tharl that ofa businessletter. Usually the first
paragaphofthe body will consistofan iotroductionwhich will give the recipientan idea
aboutyou'rewdting to them with a shortsummaryofthe mdn topic ofyour letter. Ifyou
don't know the person you arc wdting to, you rnay want to introduce yourself in this
introductoryparagraph aswell.

The ne)dfew pamgraphswill usually consistofthe messageyou want to get acrossalong

with any detailsyou may ,rvantto convey,

The last paragraphwill usually be the cbnclusionwhereyou wrap ever''thing up. You can
sum up your main idea in this paragraph,thark the recipient for their time, wish the
recipientwell, and./orask any questions.

S'inceftiendly letterc are less formal, you can feel ftee to wdte it howeveryou like, but
the aboveformat is faidv common.

FriendlyLetterFormat

RetumAddrcssLine 1 I
RetumAddressLine 2
Date(MonthDay,Year)2

DearNameof Recipient,3

lody ParagraphI

BodyParagraph
2

. . . . . . . .....'.....i ''
/
t'ooy raragraDn J

Ctosing(Sincerely...),
5
Signature6