A letter is a written message from one party to another containing

information. Letters promote the preservation of communication between

both parties; they may bring friends or relatives closer together, enrich
professional relationships and provide a means of self-expression. Letters
contribute to the protection and conservation of literacy. [1] Letters have been
sent
since antiquity and
are
mentioned
in
the Iliad.[2] Works
by
both Herodotus and Thucydides also mention letters.

Advantages of letters
Despite email, letters are still popular, particularly in business and for official
communications. Letters have the following advantages over email:

No special device is needed to receive a letter, just a postal address,

and the letter can be read immediately on receipt.

An advertising mailing can reach every address in a particular area.

A letter provides immediate, and in principle permanent, physical

record of communication, without the need for printing. Letters, especially
those with a signature and/or on an organization's own notepaper, are
more difficult to falsify than is an email and thus provide much better
evidence of the contents of the communication.

A letter in the sender's own handwriting is more personal than an

email.

If required, small physical objects can be enclosed in the envelope with

the letter.

Letters are unable to transmit malware or other harmful files that can
be transmitted by email.

Letter writing leads to the mastery of the technique of good writing.

Letter writing can provide an extension of the face-to-face therapeutic

encounter.

Types of letter

There are a number of different types of letter:

Audio letter

Letter of intent

Business letter

Letter of introduction

Cease and desist letter

Letter of marque

Chain letter

Letter of resignation

Cover letter

Letter of thanks

Crossed letter

Letter to the editor

Dear John letter

Letters patent

Epistle

Love letter

Form letter

National Letter of Intent

Hate mail

Open letter

Hybrid mail (semi-electronic delivery)

Poison pen letter

Informal letter

Query letter

Letter of credence

Recommendation letter and the clos

Letter of credit

Sales letter

The Indian Handwritten Letter Co.

STANDARD LETTER FORMAT STYLES

1. Block Style
All sections of the letter are flush against the left margin of the
page. Each paragraph in the body of the letter begins flush left
margin, with a one space line dividing each paragraph.
2. Semi-block Style
The date, signature, and address heading (if not on preprinted
letterhead stationary) are aligned on the right side of the page. All
other sections are flush left margin. Paragraphs in the body of the
letter begin flush left with a one space line dividing each paragraph.

3. Indented Style
The date, signature, and address heading (if not on preprinted
letterhead stationary) are aligned on the right side of the page. The
greeting is flush left. Paragraphs in the body of the letter are indented
with no space line between paragraphs. Postscript and notations are
flush left.
4. Memorandum Style
This is a business format that is best used for interoffice
correspondence. Directly above the body of the memorandum, are the
following sections flush left:
Date:
To: Name or column of names of those people to whom
the memorandum is being sent to. (listed in alphabetical order by
surname).
From: Writers name. Title, if any, listed directly below name.
Re: or Subject: Subject line may be emphasized by
underlining, bold font or all capital letters.
- Body text may be indented or block format.
- Signature of writer not required on Memorandums
Other Writing Tips:
Grammar
Capitalization
Punctuation
Letter Structure
Addressing Persons of Title

How to Write a Letter

Know how to write a letter, whether it is business or personal, is a skill
everyone needs. Following is information on the proper format of business
letters, a cover letter for your resume and tips on writing personal letters.
Tips on Writing a Letter
What to Include

Know your audience. Only use technical terms or jargon if you are sure
the reader will understand.
A good letter will be clear and to the point. Do not write two pages if
one will do and leave out unnecessary details.
Remain professional and do not include any threats or slander in your
letter, even if you are writing a complaint letter or aresignation.

Format
The basic format works for any kind of business letter.

On the upper left-hand side, you put your address (two lines), skip a
line, and put the date.
Skip between one and four lines, put the recipients name, title, and
address of the company.
Skip another line before the salutation. The salutation should say
Dear followed with their name, position (like Director of Resources) and
name, or To Whom It May Concern: and follow with a colon.
Skip a line and begin the letter.
When finished, skip a line before the closing.
The closing is usually Sincerely or Thank you followed with a
comma and three to four lines.
Type your name, skip a line, and type Enclosure if there are any. If
there is more than one, put how many there are in parenthesis after the
word.
If someone else typed the letter, your initials are capitalized and the
typists initials follow in lower case, separated by a slash or colon.

Cover Letters
To learn how to write a letter to accompany your resume, you need to know
to use the standard business format.

The letter should have three paragraphs and should be one page long.
The first paragraph explains why you are writing, what position you
want, and why you want it.
The second tells why you are the best person for the job and
summarizes your skills and experience.
The last sentence mentions again the position you want and briefly
summarizes the paragraph.
The closing paragraph mentions your resume and asks for an interview.
You need to be strong and upbeat in this paragraph so the reader will
want to interview you. Thank the person for his time and include contact
information.

Whether your cover letter is formal or informal in style, you should use the
same format.
Personal Letters

It is also important for everyone to know how to write a letter of a personal

nature.
Personal letters are not as formal as business letters and can be hand-written
or typed.

Your address and date will be in the upper right-hand corner of the
paper.
The closing and signature will also be on the right hand side.
The first line of each paragraph in the body of the letter is indented.
Your street address is on the first line, with the town, state, and zip on
the second line.
The third line contains the date.
Skip a line before the salutation. This can be informal, since this is a
personal letter, and put a comma after it.
The paragraphs in the body of the letter are single spaced and have a
skipped line between them. The first paragraph is usually an introduction
and a summary of the reason you are writing. The next paragraphs(s) go
into more detail, and the closing paragraph summarizes. You may want to
thank them or ask questions.
The closing comes after two skipped lines, can also be informal, and
ends with a comma.

If you want to add a P.S. or P.P.S. to your personal letter just skip a line and
start the P.S. on the left hand side of the paper.
How to Write a Formal Email
If you're used to using email to catch up with friends, writing a formal Email
might feel pretty foreign to you. It's not quite the same as writing a business
letter, but it's definitely a huge step in that direction. Clarity, conciseness
and being correct are the keys! To write a formal email, follow these
guidelines.

1. Use a neutral Email address. Your Email address should be a

variation of your real name, not a username or nickname. Use periods,
hyphens, or underscores to secure an e-mail address that's just your
name, without extra numbers or letters, if you can.

Never use an unprofessional email address. No one will take you

seriously if your reply-to is joke name or inappropriate name.
2. Use a short and accurate subject header. Avoid saying too much
in the subject header, but make sure it reflects the content of your
Email to a person unfamiliar with you. If possible, include a keyword
that will make the Email content easier to remember and/or search for
in a crowded inbox. For example, Meeting regarding the damaged
escalator on March 12th is specific enough that the email topic wont
be mistaken for anything else but not so specific as to be distracting
(ex. Schedule, Guest List, Lunch Requests, and Meeting Overview for
March 12th"). Remember always that professionals may receive
hundreds or more emails per day, the more specific and appealing the
subject is the more easier is to connect it with one's personal work.
3. Use a proper salutation. Addressing the recipient by name is
preferred. Use the person's title (Mr. Mrs. Ms. or Dr.) with their last
name, followed by a comma or a colon. Optionally, you can precede
the salutation with "Dear..." (but "Hello..." is acceptable as well). Using
a last name is more formal and should be used unless you are on firstname terms with the recipient. If you don't know the name of the
person you're writing to (but you really should try to find one) use
"Dear Sir/Madam" or "Dear Sir or Madam" followed by a colon.
4. Introduce yourself in the first paragraph (if necessary). Also
include why you're writing, and how you found that person's Email
address, or the opportunity you're writing about. Ex.

My name is Earl Rivers. I'm contacting you to apply for the

administrative assistant position listed on CareerXYZ.com.

My name is Arlene Rivers. I am writing about the traffic citation I

received on December 31, 2009. I obtained your Email address from the
Westchester County Clerk website.

5. Write the actual message. Be sure to get your point across without
rambling; if it's fluffed up, the reader may glance over the important
details. Try to break up the message into paragraphs by topic to make
your message more logical and digestible.

The email should be no more than 5 paragraphs long and each

paragraph should be no more than 5 sentences long.

Insert a line break between each paragraph; indenting isn't necessary

and will likely be lost during the email transfer anyway.

Be sure to avoid informal writing.

6. Use the correct form of leave-taking. This will depend on your
level of intimacy with the recipient. Examples include:

Yours sincerely,

Yours cordially,

Respectfully,

Best,

Your student,
7. Sign with your full name. If you have a job title, include that in the
line after your name, and write the company name or website in the
line after that. If you do not have a job title but you have your own blog
or website related to the content of the e-mail, include a link to that
below your name. If the e-mail is about a job, only include a careerrelated website or blog, not hobbies or interests.
8. Proofread your message for content. Make sure you havent
omitted any important details (or repeated yourself). Reading your
email aloud or asking someone to proofread it is a great way to get a
different perspective on what youve written.
9. Proofread your message for spelling and grammar. If your email
provider doesnt already provide spelling and grammar options for you,
copy and paste your email into a word processor, revise it if necessary,
and copy and paste it back into your email.

These days, email often supplements or even replaces traditional print

business letters, internal memos and cover letters. Although email
lends itself to informality, you need to maintain a professional tone in
all communication sent from your business. Small businesses,
especially, often want to project a professional and polished image. A
business email is formatted similarly to traditional printed documents,
but with a few technical and style differences.

Heading
A traditional business letter begins with the date in the upper left corner, but
there's no need to include that in your email because email programs handle
that automatically. In lieu of the company name, address and correspondent
under the date in a traditional letter, email programs include fields for the
addressee, subject of the email, attachments and additional addressees. For
a professional look, insert the addressee from your contact list so the full
name is displayed, rather than manually typing in an email address. Make
your subject line clear and concise, indicating the intent of the message.
Don't use abbreviations or words in all capital letters.
Body
Open the body of your email with a standard greeting, such as "Dear Mr.
Smith:" if it's your first email to the recipient. Less formal greetings, such as
using a recipient's first name only, are fine in subsequent emails if you have
established a good working relationship, but keep the tone professional
because all communication reflects on the image of your company. Use a
block body style with line breaks between the salutation and body, and
between the body and closing signature lines. Single space the paragraphs
and avoid embellishments, such as bold and italics, unless it's absolutely
necessary to emphasize a point. Use a traditional, easy-to-read font, such as
Times New Roman or Arial, and don't use a colored font or HTML. The goal is
to ensure that your recipient has no trouble reading the email.
Closing
Close your letter traditionally for formal communications and with first-time
recipients, using a closing such as "Sincerely," "Kind regards," or "Thank
you." If you have established good communication with your recipient,
follow-up emails closed with less formal terms such as "Best," or "Thanks,"
are often appropriate, but always consider the circumstances, the content of
your communication as a whole, the preferences of your recipient and the
image you want to create for your company. Type your full name under the
closing for a first email and include your title or position under your name.
Omit your last name in subsequent emails for a friendlier tone. Insert a
company signature under your name and title. If your company provides a
signature or logo for employees, use that, or type the name of the company
with the address and phone number. The email signature replaces a
letterhead in a print letter. You can also include your email address, website
address and cell phone number.
Tips

Depending on the message you're sending, the type of company and the
industry you're in, you may want to include a disclaimer at the very bottom
of your email, such as a statement that makes clear your email is not a
contract or offer. Disclaimers may help shield you legally if worded correctly,
but it's wise to seek the advice of an attorney in creating one because it
won't cover all possible situations. If you're sending an attachment with your
email, indicate that in your message so your recipient doesn't think it's
spam. Always check grammar and spelling before sending your message.