Letter writing is a way of communicating a message in written words. People write letters for both business and personal reasons. Business letters include job application letters, complaint letters, sales letters, proposals, and collection letters. Personal letters include correspondence between family members or friends, invitations, and thank-you notes.
Traditionally, personal letters were written by hand and either mailed or delivered directly to the recipient. Business letters were generally typed and then mailed. However, in today’s world of cyber (electronic) communication, more and more people send letters through e-mail. The popularity of the Internet as the preferred form of communication for many people has changed the way people communicate using written words. The rise of social media, texting, e-mailing, and instant messaging—using a smartphone, tablet, or computer—has virtually replaced letter writing in the traditional sense. Social media includes such Internet sites as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Electronic invitations and digital or printed greeting cards to acknowledge holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and other milestones have also contributed to the decline in letter writing.
This article addresses writing strategies and etiquette for all business or personal letters, whether sent electronically or through traditional mail. The ability to write a good letter is an important skill to develop. Studies show that people who write well are more likely to have a successful career. A well-written cover letter (job application letter) may lead to a satisfying job. And a good personal letter can help build or keep a valuable friendship.
Steps to writing a powerful letter
The first step in preparing a good letter is deciding what to say. Make a brief list of the ideas you want to express. Then plan the arrangement of these ideas.
Next, decide how best to put your thoughts into words. It will help greatly to write a rough draft of your letter simply to get the words on paper.
Finally, go back and correct the sentence structure, grammar, and wording. Use simple, direct statements rather than long, involved sentences. Keep sentences to a maximum of 25 words.
Characteristics of a good letter
A well-written letter should be accurate, complete, concise, clear, and courteous. Be sure every statement in the letter is correct. Business firms particularly want to avoid writing letters just to clear up mistakes made in a previous letter. Such follow-up letters can be eliminated if writers state the facts correctly in their first letter.
Think carefully about your reader’s familiarity with your topic. Have you included everything the reader needs to know? Forgetting even one necessary item can create confusion. If the letter discusses an appointment or invitation, be sure to mention the location, date, and time.
Say what you have to say, and then stop. Too often, letters become cluttered with wordy phrases, overly formal words, and unnecessary details that dilute the message. Use plain, natural language and get to the point.
The tone of the letter is equally important. Business letters are generally more formal than personal letters. Readers will respond more positively to letters that are friendly and polite.
The parts of a letter
A letter has six standard parts. They are (1) the heading, (2) the inside address, (3) the salutation, (4) the body, (5) the complimentary close, and (6) the signature.
The heading
in a business letter includes the writer’s address and the date. It is located on the top of the page, and it usually has three lines. The first line gives the writer’s street address, and the second gives the city, state, and ZIP Code. The third line tells the date the letter was written. Most of the heading may be omitted in a personal letter, but always include the date.
Business firms send letters on paper that has been printed with the business’s name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. Some also add the name or title of the writer, or the writer’s department or section.
The inside address
shows the name and address of the recipient—that is, the person or firm to whom the letter is written. In many business letters, the inside address can be written in three lines. The name of the recipient appears on the first line; the street address, on the second; and the city, state, and ZIP Code, on the third. The inside address of a letter directed to an individual in an office should include the person’s business title and the name of the firm. Most names and titles should be written out in full. However, some titles are more often abbreviated, especially Dr., Mr., Mrs., and Ms. See Address, Forms of.
The first line of the inside address should be placed at least two lines lower than the date. An inside address should appear in all business letters, but it is optional in personal letters.
The salutation
is also called the greeting. It should begin two lines below the last line of the inside address. In business letters, the most common salutation combines a title and the person’s last name, such as Dear Ms. Dobson or Dear Dr. Davis. The abbreviation Ms. often replaces Miss or Mrs. Many women prefer this title because it does not reveal their marital status. If you do not know your recipient’s name, or if you are writing to a company, you may use a salutation such as Dear Hiring Manager or Dear XYZ Publications. In personal letters, you can greet friends or family members by whatever name or title you normally use to speak to them, such as Dear David or Dear Grandma. Use a colon after the salutation in a business letter, but use a comma in a personal letter.
The body
contains the writer’s message. The body should begin two lines below the salutation. All paragraphs within the body should be separated by a space of one extra line.
The complimentary close
says good-bye at the end of the letter, just as the salutation greets the reader in the beginning. These two parts of the letter should be consistent in their degree of formality. In a letter that opens with Dear Ms. or Mr. Caldwell, the formal complimentary close could be Cordially or Best regards. If the salutation is Dear Bill, proper informal closings include Sincerely, Best wishes, and With warm regards. The complimentary close should end with a comma. The close should be placed two lines below the body of the letter.
The signature
is the writer’s name. It should be handwritten in ink below the complimentary close. In printed letters, the writer’s name appears four or five lines below the complimentary close, with the handwritten signature placed between the closing and the typed signature. The writer may add his or her title in parentheses to the left of the printed name, as in (Dr.) Jackson Baty or (Ms.) Leigh Rigby.
In some companies, the writer’s business title or department is placed on the line beneath the signature. The company’s name may also be included with the signature, though most firms omit it.
The form
The form of a letter depends on the way the six parts of the letter are arranged on the page. The most common forms are full block and semiblock. Each may be used for both business and personal letters.
The full block form
is the most commonly used form, probably because it is the easiest and quickest to type. All parts of a letter in the full block form begin at the left margin. New paragraphs are not indented. An extra line of space separates the paragraphs.
The semiblock form
is less formal than the full block form. The heading is placed in the upper right-hand corner. Both the complimentary close and the typed signature line up vertically with the heading. All other parts of the letter begin at the left margin. New paragraphs are not indented. An extra line of space separates the paragraphs.
The envelope address
usually is the same as the inside address of the letter. It is most commonly centered on the envelope. Use the capitalized, two-letter post office abbreviation for the state or province (see Postal Service, United States (table: U.S. Postal Service abbreviations for states)). The writer’s return address goes in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope. Always single-space addresses.
Business letters
There are many kinds of business letters. However, the same principles of good writing apply to each kind. This section describes two types of typical business letters—letters of application and complaint letters. This section also offers several suggestions that are helpful in most business letters.
Letters of application
are written by people seeking a job. This type of letter normally consists of two parts, the cover letter and the résumé. A cover letter introduces the applicant to the employer. It accompanies a résumé, which is a biographical summary listing the applicant’s education and work experience. For more information about résumés, see Careers (Writing a résumé).
The first paragraph of the cover letter tells what job the writer is applying for and how the applicant found out about the position. In the next one or two paragraphs, the writer should briefly emphasize the parts of his or her background that relate most closely to the job. This helps the reader to understand the answer to the question, “Why should we hire you?” A strategic cover letter helps the reader to imagine how the writer would meet the needs of the job, so it uses “you” almost as often as “I.” The letter should be no more than three or four paragraphs. In the final paragraph, the applicant should politely ask the employer about setting up a job interview.
After a job interview, applicants should send a follow-up letter, which is a short letter thanking the employer for the interview. This letter should be sent within two days of the interview. A follow-up letter shows the applicant’s continued interest in the job.
Complaint letters
call attention to a problem and try to persuade the reader to take corrective action. Although it is proper to express disappointment or dissatisfaction, an angry and sarcastic letter is rarely—if ever—appropriate. The tone of the letter may be cool and firm, but it should also be courteous. State the complaint clearly at the beginning of the letter. Include everything the reader needs to know to take action, such as account numbers, relevant dates, and photocopies of bills or canceled checks. Make a specific request for action and politely ask for a reply.
The reply to a complaint letter should also be courteous. Begin it with a polite acknowledgment of the complaint letter. If the complaint is justified, apologize for the problem and explain what action will be taken to correct it. If the complaint is not justified, tactfully explain why the requested action will not be taken. The reply should always end with a positive statement about future dealings and a friendly close.
Improving your business letters.
It is usually best to deal with only one subject in a business letter. This makes it easier for the reader to file the letter after responding to it. If you need to discuss two or more subjects with the same person, consider writing more than one letter.
You can help the reader quickly learn what your business letter is about by including a reference headline. A reference headline consists of the abbreviation Re followed by a colon and a short phrase describing the topic of the letter—for example, “Re: a design flaw in your new product.” Place it at the beginning of the letter just beneath the inside address and before the salutation. This is comparable to the Subject lines that you write in e-mails.
Consider putting topic labels, called headlines, on different sections or paragraphs of a letter to help clarify for the reader the points you wish to make. For example, copies of your letter may be going to two or more readers who have different levels of familiarity with your subject. In this case, you may want to put a section labeled “Background” toward the end of your letter. People who need this extra information can skim to the end, while those more familiar with the subject will find important facts such as “Results of a Survey” in a section at the start of the letter.
Personal letters
People generally use a more casual tone and style in personal letters than in business letters. However, invitations to such large events as weddings are usually written formally. This section describes some of the guidelines for writing formal and informal personal invitations, as well as thank-you notes and general personal correspondence.
Formal invitations
are written in the third person. The invitation should begin with the name of the person or group extending the invitation. A description of the event should follow—such as a dinner, wedding, or party—and its date, time, and location. For example, a wedding invitation might begin, “Mr. and Mrs. Howard Jones request your presence at the marriage of their daughter, Delia Pauline, to …” The date should be spelled out. No signature is used in a formal invitation. Most formal invitations are engraved or handwritten. Sending a formal invitation via mail rather than e-mail helps lend the event the dignity you intend. 
The letters R.S.V.P. may appear on the invitation. This is an abbreviation for the French phrase Répondez, s’il vous plaît, which means Please reply. An invitation may also say Please reply or The favor of a reply is requested. Any request for a reply should appear in the lower left-hand corner.
Informal invitations.
Most informal invitations today are no longer handwritten. Instead, for speed and convenience, the person issuing the invitation may purchase pre-printed cards, send an e-mail invitation, or issue an invitation through such social planning or networking websites as Evite or Facebook. An informal invitation should contain the event’s date, time, and location, but it is otherwise much less structured than a formal invitation. If an informal invitation includes an R.S.V.P. request, it may ask the reader to respond by telephone or e-mail.
Thank-you notes
are brief letters of thanks for a gift, a dinner, a favor, or some other hospitality. Writing a thank-you note shows gratitude and good manners. Make the note sound as if you were talking to your host or hostess in person. Thank-you notes are usually written by hand on a card or on personal stationery. They are most appreciated when the writer mentions a specific feature of the event or gift that compels the note.
Other personal letters
include condolence notes and letters of congratulations. Many personal letters are written primarily to share news and thoughts.
Young people can make friends with others their age in another state, province, or country through pen pal letters. Many organizations exist to provide names and contact information of people seeking pen pals. These people exchange letters and may become friends. Girl Scout and Boy Scout groups offer help to their members who would like to find a pen pal.
Choosing between e-mail and a mailed letter
E-mail is free, fast, and widely available to people with Internet access. An e-mail reaches its recipient almost instantly, and the writer does not need to buy paper, envelopes, or stamps. Because of these advantages, businesses today send and receive far more e-mails than they do letters on paper. Consumers often find that sending a complaint letter, for example, to a company by e-mail results in a faster response. Sending a company a mailed letter is a little more unusual today. However, if your goal is to attract greater attention, postal mail may be a better choice.
Many people consider traditional mail to be more personal than e-mail. They mail printed letters when they do not have urgent news but would like to express their feelings and make the recipient feel special. Letters to express thanks or sympathy are still usually handwritten on paper.
