THE BUSINESS LETTER FORMATS

 The style or format of a letter may often be

the least of your worries when writing a
letter. This does not, however, diminish the
importance of style.

 Often, style is a mere question of personal

choice. Some organizations, though, either
as a matter of policy or as a case of habit,
use one style only. At the end of the
semester, you will find yourself
unconsciously making a choice. Whatever
your choice is, it is good to master it so that
when you compose a letter, you won’t even
have to think of the style. It will come to
you naturally.

 Because of this quirk in the human nature,

effective writers consciously strike for a
good and positive first impression. The
more difficult the message of the letter, the
more the writer must strive to create a
letter that looks easy to read and easy to
understand.
 So, if you cannot even master format, what
kind of impression are you giving the
reader? Well, if I were the reader, I’d
immediately decide that you must be a
dumb writer. After all, format is possibly the
easiest part of writing. If the writer didn’t
even bother to check his or her format and
use it properly, chances are there will be
more serious defects in the content of the
letter.
(1) FULL BLOCK

 All the parts of the letter, from the Dateline

to the last part begins at the left margin.
This style which has a neat and very modern
appearance is often recommended for
formal business letters.

(2) MODIFIED BLOCK

 Except for the Dateline, Complimentary

Ending and the Signature Block, all parts of
this letter style start on the left. The
Complimentary Ending and the Signature
Block should begin at the same horizontal
center as the Dateline.
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