Top Tips to Master the Practice Formal Letter Writing
In
this modern era where instant communications can take place in the blink of an
eye, many forms of letter writing communication seem to fall away. With emailing
being so easy, text and instant messaging being so… well instant, and social
media so visible, writing styles have changed rapidly in relation to the type
of communication and who’s reading it.
The
art of formal letter writing might in fact be dead, however a good, well presented,
hand written letter is now seen as special with all the ‘noise’ of
communication out there. A personal letter makes people sit up and listen when
they receive a letter pressed envelope through the post.
But how do you write such an important letter? And what is
the structure of a properly laid out letter? We have put together a handy
letter-writing checklist to guide you through the art of writing formal letters.
Structure of Formal Letters- 15 Check Points
- Always use good
quality stationary and write on white, ivory or cream
letter paper. This will give the recipient the feeling of quality and that your
letter is of importance to them.
- If you are not using headed paper,
ensure your full address is written in the top right hand corner of the letter.
This step can be skipped if you are already using personalised headed paper
that includes your address and contact details.
- Write the date of your letter in full
in the right hand side underneath your address. Write the date in full i.e. 1st
January 2015 not 01/01/2015
- Write a small plan before you write on
your beautiful personal writing paper
and think about what you need to communicate and the tone of writing before you
begin.
- Write your greeting on the left hand
side of the paper. Different greetings can be used, such as, “Dear"
followed by the person's name. If you are writing a very formal letter and you
don’t know whom you are writing to use "Dear Sirs," If it is a more
informal letter and you know who you are writing to you can always be far more casual
and use "Hello …", or even "Hi …".
- Always finish the greeting with a comma.
- The initial paragraph of your letter should
be concise and explain why you are writing. You should also summarise the purpose
of your letter and write in a clear, polite manner so that the reader knows
what is to come.
- The main body of content should be the
most important part containing most of the relevant information. Keep it
informative, polite but concise otherwise you may loose the attention of your
intended reader.
- The last and closing paragraph of your
formal letter needs to indicate the type and style of response you want and
when you want a response by. Make sure that the addressee knows what the
intended action is.
- Conclude your letter with an
appropriate farewell on the left hand side of the page.
- Take care when handwriting your letter
to ensure that that there are no spelling and grammar error. Your writing needs
to be neat and easy to read.
- Use “Yours Sincerely” when you know who
are writing to and use “Yours Faithfully” when you don’t know the name of your recipient.
- Sign and print your name underneath the
farewell on the left hand side.
- Centre align the address on your
envelope. Take care that the address is
spelt correctly and that it is legible.
- If you’re sending your letter by post,
never decorate the front of the envelope, as it may never actually arrive. Be sure to write your address on the back on
the envelope in case it cannot be delivered and needs to be returned to sender.
For my information on the art of letter
writing and to find the perfect formal writing paper visit The Letter Press
of Cirencester where all stationary is traditionally
printed with techniques combined with contemporary designs and classic alike.