Sometimes in our lives, we need to write a formal letter for something. Once I had to send such a letter and I realized, that I don’t know how to structure it! And that was bad because I had to quickly write it, but I couldn’t find the appropriate information about how to do it! A friend of mine helped me with this situation, and I did well. And now I am creating this post, and I hope it will be helpful for people in a similar situation to mine.
Some Basics
Here are some simple steps, that will help you build your nice looking letter. Look at the image below and read the following instructions:
1. Preferably use a computer or a typewriter, don’t write it on had. But if you have no choice, the pencil is also an option.
2. Don’t forget to put on a letterhead. If you don’t have one, type your name, title, and address as a letterhead after 3-4 blank lines from the top margin of the page.
3. After this comes the date. Put it 3 lines after the letterhead or your address, at the right side of the page.
4. Leave another 2-3 blank line and type the full name of the person you are writing to (starting with Mr., Mrs, etc.), his/her position and address. Put any of these elements on a new row, aligned to the left side of the sheet.
5. Leave a couple of blank lines again and type the greeting of the letter, aligned to the left side and in this format (without the quotes): ” Dear Mrs. Jameson:Â ” (don’t forget the colon at the end of the name)
6. Leave another blank row and begin your letter. Use paragraphs.
7. After you finish the body of the letter, skip a line or two and finalize the body with something like:
Thanks for your attention, or thank you for considering these lines, or something similar. Be creative.
8. Leave 2-3 lines blank and finalize your letter with aligned to the right side complimentary closing, like:
Best wishes, Sincerely yours, Great day, etc…
Don’t forget to place a comma after the wish.
9. Leave 4-5 blank rows for your signature, and type your name and position (title), aligned to the right, too.
That’s it! This is how you can write a lovely business letter! To further understand how to structure it, you can see the picture below:
Formal Business Letter Format Sample
By following these steps, you should have an effective, formal letter that conveys your message and purpose. And keep in mind, practice makes perfect. So, don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it right the first time. Good luck!
Talking about letters, don’t miss reading the story of a guy, who made a million by selling excuse letters.
