Letter Writing

Introduction
Of all forms of writing, letter writing can be the
most challenging as well as rewarding. Challenging,
because in every letter you write you are on trial, for
it is your whole personality and character that get
revealed in it. And rewarding, because nothing can
give more satisfaction than the feeling of achievement
born of successful communication without face-to-
face interaction. Good letter writing, therefore, is what
everyone must learn.
Writing letters is both an art and a technique. The
latter can be mastered through adherence to formal
conventions; the former has got to be cultivated with
care and deep personal interest. Letters can be of
many types. But some general principles can be laid
down which would apply to all of them. We might call
them the essentials of a good letter. They are as
follows:
Knowing What to Say
Nothing is more harmful to good communication
than muddle-headedness resulting in not being able
to make ones point. Before writing a letter one should
be sure of what one wants to say and accordingly one
should be in command of all the necessary facts and
information arranged logically and systematically.
Clarity
Knowing what one wants to say is not enough
unless one says it in as clear a language as possible.
Here comes the importance of the right word and the
right expression put in a sentence constructed neatly
and with precision. It should, however, be remembered
that right words and right expressions become relevant
only when they occur in the right place. Thus emotional
and even flowery language may be apposite to a
personal letter but it will be completely out of place
in a business letter.
Brevity
A few generations ago, when man enjoyed unlimited
space and time, prolixity in language would not have
been unwelcome, at least in certain kinds of
correspondence. In the modern age, however, addition
of even one extra word will cost time and energy most
people will like to avoid. It is all the more true of
business correspondence. It means that all
redundancy, be it a quotation, an illustration, an
elaboration, in short, padding of any kind, must be
avoided at all costs.
Accuracy
Avoidance of redundancy helps achieve accuracy of
statement. For, much unwanted language in letters
is the direct result of inaccurate and inconsistent
thoughts and statements. A little care, particularly
habitual revision of what one has written, will go a
long way towards making writing accurate.
Courtesy
As remarked earlier, a letter reveals its writers
personality and character. Since there is always a you
in every letter, it is necessary that this you or the
addressee be shown all the courtesy and respect that
language can express. Even when a complaint is lodged
or a statement or application rejected, care should be
taken that it is couched in polite and civilised language.
It is worth remembering that while courtesy costs
nothing, there is hardly anything more abrasive than
impolite language.
Good Looks
Finally, a letter must be a visual attraction to the
reader. It can displease either through wrong spelling
and punctuation or bad writing and typing. These are
not matters merely of form as even a well-thought-
out letter, rich in ideas and having all the qualities of
clarity, brevity, accuracy and courtesy may not only
fail to make proper impact on the reader, but may
even defeat its purpose by causing him unnecessary
annoyance.
Parts of Letter
A letter consists of several parts that are given below:
1. The Heading consisting of (a) the writers address
and (b) the date.
2. The courteous Greeting or Salutation.
3. The Communication of Message - The body of the
letter.
4. The Subscription, or courteous Leave-taking, or
Conclusion.
5. The Signature.
6. The Superscription on the envelope.
K
KUNDAN
1. The Heading: This informs the reader where you
wrote the letter, and when. The where (which should
be the writers full postal address) gives the address
to which the reader may reply; and the when is for
reference, as it gives him the date on which you wrote.
Traditionally, this Heading was written on the right
hand side top corner of the paper. But these days, the
Heading is begun with the top left corner of the paper
without any indenting (ie space), like
Traditional mode ------------------->
215 C, Upper Ridge Road,
New Delhi.
15th January, 20XX
215 C, Upper Ridge Road, <--------- Current
mode
New Delhi
15th January, 20XX
Note: The date may be written in any of the following
ways:
Date
(a) 25th October, 20XX
(b) October 25, 20XX
(c) October 25th, 20XX
(d) 25 October, 20XX
But here we follow the first one.
2. Salutation or Greeting: Salutation is given on
the left top corner just below the address of the writer
of the letter, without any indenting. Salutation is
different in different kinds of letters.
I. Personal Letters
(a) To Relatives: My Dear Father/Dear Father/My Dear
Brother/Dear Mother/Dear Uncle/Dear Arun etc.
(b) To Friends: My Dear Anu/Dear Anu etc. (Never
write Dear Friend Anu/Dear Friend)
(c) To Acquaintances: Dear Mr Gupta/Dear Miss
Seema/Dear Mrs Poonam/Dear Madan/Dear Sir
etc.
(d) To Strangers: Sir/Madam etc.
(e) To Principals/Headmasters/Teachers: Sir/Madam
etc.
II. Business Letters
In Business letters, if the letter is written to the
General Manager/Director etc of a company, we use
Dear Sir. If the letter is addressed to a firm as a whole,
we use Dear Sirs/Gentlemen.
3. The Communication or Body of the Letter:
This is, of course, the letter itself, and the style in
which it is written will depend upon the kind of letter
you wish to write. The style of a letter to an intimate
friend will be very different from that of a purely
business letter or an official communication. But a
few hints that apply to all letters are given below:
(a) Divide your letter (unless it is very short) into
paragraphs, to mark changes of subject matter,
etc.
(b) Use simple and direct language and short sentences.
Do not try to be eloquent, and drag in long words,
just because they are long words. Be clear about
what you want to say, and say it as directly as
possible.
(c) Try to be complete. It is a sign of slovenly thinking
when you have to add postscripts at the end of a
letter. Think out what you want to say before you
begin to write; and put down your points in some
logical order.
(d) Write neatly. Remember that your correspondent
has to read what you write, and do not give him
unnecessary trouble with bad penmanship and
slovenly writing.
(e) Mind your punctuation, and put in commas and
semicolons and fullstops in their proper places.
Incorrect punctuation may alter the whole
meaning of a sentence.
The beginning of the letter must be attractive and
inviting with proper protocol or decorum, like
I am in receipt of your letter ....
It gives me immense pleasure to .....
I am glad to write ......
I got your letter yesterday ......
I was pained to know/learn ......
It has been long since we/I heard from you.....
The ending of personal letter should be with proper
wishes. In official letters, the ending is usually with
the hope of the completing of the work or with thanks
etc.
Personal Letters
Your loving son/daughter/brother etc.
With warm regards.
With best wishes.
Hoping to hear/meet soon.
Write soon. Bye.
With kind regards.
Business Letters
Thanking you.
Hoping to hear soon from you.
Looking forward to.
Hoping to receive a favourable reply.
Assuring you of our fullest cooperation.
4. Subscription: Subscription is always determined
by salutation. This is given at the left side after one
or two spaces of the closing of the body of the letter.
This is usually given in the following manner.
(a) To close relatives : Yours affectionately
Affectionately
Yours/Your affection-
ate son/daughter nep-
hew/cousi n/ni ece/
brother/sister/Your
loving son etc.
K
KUNDAN
(b) To friends/acquaintances : Yours sicerely/
Sincerely yours
(c) To strangers/officials/ : Yours faithfully/Yours
firms truly/Truly yours/Sin-
cerely yours
(d) To Principal/head- : Yours obediently/
master/teacher Yours sincerely/Yours
faithfully
Note: In applications, we use Sir/Madam as the case
may be, and Yours obediently/Yours faithfully.
If the salutation is Sir/Madam, we should close
the letter with Your obediently or Yours faithfully
and not Yours truly.
5. Signature: Signature comes under subscription.
In personal letters we never append full signature.
Usually in them, only pet names are appended in
signature form by which they are known, like:
Anu, not Anupam
Dipu, not Dipender
Sunni, not Kamlesh
Anupam Singh/Dipender Kumar/Kamlesh Kumari
with surname etc., if any, are never written as these
give out a shallow impression.
6. Address: Address of the addressee is usually
given in three lines on the top left corner of the page.
This is added on the middle part of the envelope
downside. The right top corner of the envelope is
usually meant for postal stamp.
The first line of the address has the name of the
person to whom the letter is being sent. In the second
line, House no./Street/Name of the locality etc is
given. In the third line, the name of the city with
District is given and thereafter the name of the state
in which the city is situated. In the fourth line, PIN
(Postal Index Number) is given in small boxes if it is
known to the writer of the letter as given below:
Mr PK Mishra
45 M, University Road
Aligarh, UP
Pin:
Below are given the formats of the letter
conventional and current. Students may understand
on their own and practise these for their usage.
CONVENTIONAL FORMAT
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Heading/Address
Date
Inside Address
(of the Addressee)
Greeting
Body
Complementary close
Signature
CURRENT FORMAT
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K
KUNDAN
Kinds of Letters
Mainly letters are of four kinds:
(a) Personal or Private Letters: These are written
to brothers, sisters, friends, relatives etc. These
include letters of invitations also, written formally
or informally.
(b) Business Letters: These letters are written to
Business Houses, Companies, Newspapers, Banks
etc. on purely business matters.
(c) Official Letters: These letters are written to
officials. Applications for jobs fall under this
category.
(d) Letters to the Editor: These are usually written
to the Editors of Newspapers concerning local
problems, generally official in nature or concerning
public interest.
Presentation
There is an aesthetics of letter writing which must be
paid due attention to, both in handwritten and typed
letters. For the same reason various parts of the letter
should be suitably and attractively spaced. Likewise,
a long letter is best divided into paragraphs instead
of being written in one almost unending paragraph.
Some points to note are:
1. Use of Headings
It is often regarded as a mark of unfriendliness and
coldness to use headings in letters written to
individuals. However, they are perfectly justified and
even desirable in correspondence between and within
firms, specially if it is lengthy.
Headings are often used in
(a) letters between companies, especially for a series
of letters on the same subject.
(b) letters between the departments of a company.
(c) letters from firms, government departments,
associations, etc to private individuals, for
example, in circular letters and in final demands
for payment.
2. Dear Sir or Dear Sirs?
Dear Sir or Dear Madam is used when the addressee
is just one person (for example, Mr Sharma; The
Personnel Manager, Life Insurance Corporation; The
Secretary, Rotary Club, New Delhi, West). Dear Sirs
is used when the addressee is a whole firm or any
other group of people. But Sir alone is often used in
letters to editors.
The use of first names is best avoided in business
letters, except perhaps when correspondence is
between people who are very informal and of equal
status. It is, however, not uncommon to address
people by name (for example Dear Mr Sharma, Dear Miss
Nayyar), especially when the writer and receiver are
already known to each other and when they want to
strike a friendly and polite note.
3. Yours sincerely or Yours faithfully?
When the salutation is Dear Sir(s) or Dear Madam the
subscription is: Yours faithfully. Yours sincerely is used
when someone is addressed by name (for example,
Dear Mr Sharma; Dear Miss Nayyar).
4. (Mrs), (Miss), (Ms)?
If the writer is a lady the signature cannot merely be
her name (for example Madhu, Rani, etc.) Mrs, Miss
or Ms (title for a woman who does not wish to call
herself either Mrs. Or Miss) should be mentioned
before or after the name so that the replies are
appropriately addressed.
Some important matters of usage are:
1. As a follow-up to previous correspondence there
may be a choice between (This is) in continuation of
my/our letter of .... (date) and further to my/our letter
of .... (date). The latter is a bit old-fashioned but
more economical.
2. In making requests or asking for information it is
best to avoid direct questions (for example, How
soon do you intend to open a new account?).
Pleasanter ways of doing the same would be:
I/We should be grateful if you would .... perhaps
you would be kind enough to tell us ....
3. A useful way of referring to a point made in the
letter received is: We note from your letter of ...
(date).
4. Any unpleasant suggestion is best introduced
indirectly, for example: We are wondering whether
... (as in We are wondering whether you have
overlooked an important point in our proposal).
5. Good or bad feelings are best expressed as:
We are pleased to learn that ...
We are sorry to hear that ...
6. Remember the combinations:
Place an order with someone for something. Write
a cheque for Rs 1,000,000. Cheques should be
made out to BSC Publishing Co.