Letter Writing 1: Writing A Formal Letter

Letter Writing 1: Writing A Formal Letter

As age kept advancing, the act of letter writing has faced a horrible decline, one for which recovery isn’t promised. We agree that from the onset, letter writing has been a benevolent mechanism that has provided communication to all ages.

There is no disputing that. It won’t be much of a sin to go with conjecture and believe you are already accustomed to what a letter is, why it is written, and to whom it should be directed, depending on the specific kind of letter written down. But the begging question is, can you write a letter?

We can’t learn to be ignorant of this based on it becoming prehistoric. It is one thing to know what a letter is, and it is another thing to know how to write one.

Many have become grey on both edges and forgotten or are rather obscure of the entire impression governing an acceptable letter, for there is a need to touch once more on the fundamentals of letter writing.

What is Letter Writing?

Letter writing is the process of writing down messages with the intent of passing information to a given location.

I would begin with the most important aspect of letter writing: identifying the letter you are writing. There is always that line that separates a personal letter from a business letter, and for some yet to be known reason, that thickened line has gradually faded away, and gross misinterpretation has surfaced—it is now certain that not everyone knows where and why a formal letter is written.

Should there be a case where you are expected to appeal to higher authorities or rather to an essence with superior standards put to mind that whatever would occupy that blank sheet should be written in a formal text style, this is often pronounced as a formal letter, but of course, knowing alone doesn’t cut it, it doesn’t suffice demands, can you write it?

Writing a formal letter would require you to become aware of the recipient, it’d require you to become conscious of your choice of words, it’d require you to become mindful of the expected format, and most importantly, it would require you to understand the entire concept of clarity.

If you are sorting to get a job you should know that the level of erudition and appropriateness should be beaming alarmingly in your letter, if you are directing it to higher authority, the same should be applied, but if the recipient happens to be anonymous dial down a little on complex wordings and try simple text. This article contains information concerning;

• Formal letter

And basic ways to write a conventional one

What is a Formal Letter?

A formal letter is a letter written ceremoniously in a formal language and follows a certain specified format. Such letters are written for official purposes to authorities, dignitaries, seniors, colleagues, etc.

This type of letter should never be addressed to close associates, family, or friends. When we talk about a formal letter, we talk about a pattern, about a format, the expected format that all official letters are expected to adopt, but before I pull this from under the table, how well do you know official letters? Is there a reality where you see yourself listing more than three official letters, excluding business letters?

These sets of letters are to be penned in either block or administrative management style,

Block style: This is a dominant style used in major forms of formal writing; it comes with a salutation and closing, and it is well recommended for businesses. Letters expected in a formal format are;

• Cover letter
• Claim letter
• Apology letter
• Inquiry letter
• Acceptance letter
• Sales letter

Cover letter: A cover letter is one sent to a hiring manager by a potential job applicant. This letter is attached to his/her resume. It summarises your qualification, slightly more elaborating on a number of items listed on your resume, for a specific job.

Claim letter: While writing a claim letter, you do not just blatantly pen down “I swear to God this item is mine” as many would picture it. No, that is not entirely what a claim letter is about; this type of letter should be aimed at expressing your dissatisfaction towards a company’s product and then suggesting compensation.

Apology letter: This type of letter mostly contains official statements detailing remorseful intent and is directed to specific demographic locations, businesses, and affiliates, as well as public figures and bodies.

Inquiry letter: An inquiry letter is used when seeking more information about a particular product.

Acceptance letter: this letter is constructed as a response to receiving an honour, resignation, job, etc.

Sales letter: These are formal letters focused on selling a company’s product or service, detailing a strident reason why these goods should be purchased, and they also have a call to action.

Now, to the procedures, how do you write a formal letter? To write a formal letter, the idea should be centred on a few but basic elements. The following would serve as a guide;

1.       Begin with the sender’s address information

2.       Add date

3.       Add the recipient address

4.       Pen down a salutation in block style

5.       Begin with the body

6.       Signature

7.       Peruse

Begin with the name and address

This should be positioned in the upper right-hand corner of the page; it must include your name/ name of your company, then the address/demographic location, closest landmark, and street number, if any is available. E.g.

31 Mainland Road

Off Herbert Macaulay Road

Garki, Abuja

Nigeria

Add a date

This should follow the address in the same position, at the right-hand corner. It should be written in block style letter with a space inserted between the date and address.

Now, if you are writing this in administrative management style, be sure to omit the space and place the date directly under the address.

The date shouldn’t be foretold, but should be the actual date on which the letter is written. Now, why is placing a date very important and constantly emphasised? The date is necessary because it stimulates the recipient to work within a time frame.

31 Mainland Road

Off Herbert Macaulay Way,

Garki Abuja,

Nigeria

14/11/2021

Add the recipient’s address

Include his/her title; follow the recipient’s name with his/her job title, just below the name input the name of his or her company. After doing exactly that, write the street address, landmark, name of the city, and zip code.

If there is a case where you don’t know the recipient’s title, endeavour to do some research on the company’s official site, or if possible, call the company to find out.

Marble and Bianca Ltd

Off Herbert Macaulay Road

Garki, Abuja

Nigeria.

Pen down your salutation

This is typical of every written work; a variant for this is the seemingly unavoidable introduction that precedes an essay. “Dear Sir/ ma” has always been the harbinger for all letters, and it hasn’t failed to suffice. While grafting together a salutation, address them directly.

Write the body of the letter.

The body of a formal letter shouldn’t exceed three paragraphs. If you cannot express whatever you have intended in 3 paragraphs or less, then you’d need to revise and reconstruct while using concise and brevity as watchwords. If you are typing it down, left-justify your paragraph and use single spacing.

Your first paragraph should begin with a friendly opening, and from there move straight to the purpose of the letter. This isn’t the archetypal text letter where you get to exchange pleasantries, thank God for the life of the recipient, and send best regards to their family members, no. You are expected to construct the letter in a professional tone.

In the second paragraph, make it a date to express your point, and highlight reasons why that specific point is outlined, give examples, e.g.

“…For the benefit of all subsidiary and self-acclaimed elites residing in….I urge you to act upon your mantle of leadership and pass a law that forbids any person from littering and disposing of waste improperly.

This is because the standard of human health has started depreciating terribly, the inhabitants of…are now susceptible to vile ailments, and repulsive odour has become a defining factor of our local community…”.

The last paragraph should briefly summarise your purpose and suggest a way forward.

Sign off

This part follows after your final paragraph, you are required to prove indeed you wrote the letter, doing that would require your signature at the bottom of the letter—this can easily be replaced with your name. Above that, you can simply put the following: “Yours sincerely”, “sincerely”, “best”; these are the most predominant and most appropriate for ending your formal letter

Conclusion

Now that you know how a formal letter is written, it is also important to identify the differences that exist between formal and informal letters, as this will guide you in letter writing

Letter writing helps you express your thoughts and improves your cognitive health, because while writing, you need to think and put your words and emotions into writing.