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 closely related em
 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:” Writer’s 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 recipient’s 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 typist’s 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 won’t 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 first-name
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 career-related website
or blog, not hobbies or interests.
 8. Proofread your message for content. Make sure you haven’t 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 you’ve written.
9. Proofread your message for spelling and grammar. If your email provider doesn’t
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.