Letters have been one of the biggest source of communication for centuries. Countries all over the world have been corresponding with each other with the help of letters. Relatives and friends that are apart, loved ones that are away for some work have used letters to share their feelings and life events. Letters have been written in all sorts of settings. They are used for official communication between companies, employees and for judicial purposes. On the other hand, letters are also written for informal purposes such as, getting to know the health of a dear friend or wishing someone the birth of their first baby. With the help of letters people can easily communicate and get their message across. Letter writing is a process that has different elements one must take care of. There are rules and patterns that letters, be it formal or informal must follow. The most important elements are the starting and the ending of the letter. In both formal in formal letters the ending and starting elements follow different patterns and particularities. It is very important for the writer of the letter to follow the format accurately as these formats are followed all over the globe. As the world is progressing informal letters are not written as commonly as they used to. People communicate on their phones, through text messages, calls and even emails. However formal letters have gained a lot of popularity as they are important in official communications. A phone call or text message wouldn’t suffice and will seem inappropriate. In this blog we will be discussing how to start and end formal letters.
The Starting Element
Starting a formal letter depends on the occasion and the receiver of the letter. To start a formal letter in the ‘block’ style you need to follow these instructions.
1. First of all on the left side of the paper, write down your address. You need to write your complete address, so that if the receiver wants to reply, they can use this address. If you are writing to represent the company, then you will put in the address of the company. The pattern of the address will be to start from the building number, street number, city and then finally the country. You must also include the Zip code or your area along with the contact details. Write each aspect in a different line but do not leave a line in between. Also do not insert a full stop at the end of the address.
2. Leave a line after you have written the complete address then write the date. Write the date accurately of the day you are writing this letter. Write the date in a proper manner by writing the full form of the day, month and year. For example: not write June as Jun. it is a formal letter, you must be careful about not using contractions or shortened forms. 3. Once you have written down the date, the next step is to write the address of the receiving end. Following the same indentation, leave a line after the date and write the name of the person receiving it. To write the name you must attach an honorific. For example Mr., Mrs. or Dr. If you are not aware about the recipients details, you can call up the company and ask them. After writing the name in the second line write the post of the recipient, followed by the address in the similar way you have written yours.
4. Once the complete address is written move on to address the receiver by using a salutation. For example: Dear Mr. John. After writing the salutation, you need to add a colon and then move on to the body of the letter.
5. In the start of the body you must specify your reason for writing the letter. Do not leave it to discuss later in the letter do it at the very start. You can start off by a line like ‘I am writing this letter to inform you……..’ Then you can continue to explain or write whatever you have to.
This is how you start a formal letter; make sure that all the elements are completed properly.
The Ending Element
Ending a formal letter also requires you to follow a certain pattern.
In the last paragraph of your letter you must summarize the purpose of you letter and what you wanted to convey to the recipient. You can even talk about any future actions that you want to be taken by the recipient.
After you have written the conclusion. You need to sign off your letter with an appropriate salutation but on the right side of the page. For example the mostly commonly used salutation is ‘yours sincerely’.
After writing the salutation, in the following line write your complete name and follow it with your title if need be. Write all of the aspects in different lines without leaving one in between.
Once you have written your name and title you must add your signature too. Leave a line and then sign on the letter.
Writing a letter is all about the format. The format of the letter is what makes it professional and good enough to be used in official dealings. Pay strict attention to the starting and ending elements of your essay if you are writing a formal letter. With the help of this blog you will be able to successfully write a Letter Editing Services with an accurate format. Hopefully now you won’t be able to make mistakes in the format of the letter.
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