Art of Letter Writing


This article describes the art of letter writing and how to present or send a good letter which is complete and easy to understand.

Bombastic language spoils the beauty of a letter. The writing should be neat and legible. Letters need not be unnecessarily lengthy. Brevity must be the soul of any letter.A good letter is lively conversation. A good letter builds a good impression of a person's personality. Language used in letter writing directly, naturally as well as very simple.

Letters may be divided into business letters, public letters, and personal letters. Writing letters to book sellers and firms is known as business letters. Writing letters to editors of newspapers and persons in charge of departments connected with the public is known as public letters. Writing letters to friends and relatives is known as personal letters.

Parts of a Letter

1. The Heading – The writer's address is usually written at the top, right hand corner. The date should be written below the address. For example:

56, Rajaji Street,
Place,
Date.

(Take care to put a comma after “street" and another comma after the “place") Date is written in several ways. Note the punctuation carefully.

The address of the writer is written at the top, left hand corner for applications and official letters.

For example:

From
Name
65, Rajawari Street,
Place.

To

………. ………
………. ………
…………..

(No comma should be put in after “From" and “To"

2. Salutation – It means courteous greeting. It is written on the left hand side, a little lower than the date.

A. Personal Letters

To Relations:

1. To mother or father or uncle etc.

My dear mother (Mummy).

Or
My dear father (Daddy),

2. To elder brother or sister

My dear Brother or sister

3. To younger brother or sister

My dear Chandu, or

My dear Sasi,

To Friends:

1. Close friend

My dear Sundar,

2. A less familiar friend

Dear Mr. Prasad
(Do not write “My dear Friend")

B. Public Letters

To Teacher or strangers:

Dear Sir/Respected Sir,/Sir,
Dear Madam,/Madam,

C. Business Letters:

To
The Manager,
Company Name,
Place.

Sir,

(If the letter is addressed to the company, the salutation must be “Sirs" or “Gentlemen")

3. Body of Letter – This should be begun below the salutation but a little to the right. It contains the subject matter of the letter. One's ideas should be conveyed politely and briefly in an intelligible way in this part of the letter. If the body of the letter is long, it must be divided into paragraphs. The first line of each paragraph is indented a uniform distance usually five spaces. Closing lines may be written as:

“With best Regards" or “With best Wishes" or “With deep Affection." Etc.

4. Subscription – (Conclusion and Signature)

It follows the body of the letter. It is written on the right hand side thus:

Yours truly,
Signature.

Forms of Subscription:

To father and mother:

Your loving son, or
Your loving daughter, or
Yours lovingly,

To brother and sister:

Yours affectionately, or
Your affectionate brother, or
Your affectionate sister,

To relations:

Yours affectionately,

To friends:

Your loving friend or
(and in Demi-official letters)

Yours sincerely, or
Yours cordially, or
Cordially yours,

For teachers:

Your obedient student, or
Yours obediently,

For strangers:

Yours truly,
Yours faithfully,

For business letters and Official letters:

Yours truly,
Yours faithfully,

5. The Superscription – The recipient's address. This should be written on the left hand side just below the body of the letter.


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