Art of letter writing

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 persons 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 writers 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. Ones 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 recipients address. This should be written on the left hand side just
below the body of the letter.