Every letter, whether it is a formal letter to a company, a personal letter to a friend or a cover letter for a job, has the same job: to say something clearly enough that the reader understands it at the first reading and knows what you want. The layout and the tone change with the kind of letter; the steps for writing one do not. This guide takes you through those steps. Where the details differ, it points you to the guide for that kind of letter.
Why write a letter at all
Email, messaging and online forms carry most of our writing now, and for quick exchanges they are better. A letter is for the occasions that need more weight: a complaint that may end up in front of an ombudsman, a job application, a reference, a resignation, a thank-you that should be kept, a condolence. A letter shows that you stopped and took care. It also leaves a dated record on paper, which messages rarely do. Most of what follows applies equally to a letter sent as an email or as an attachment; the layout changes slightly and the care does not.
The seven steps
- Decide what you want. Before you write a word, finish this sentence: “When they have read this, I want the reader to …”. Refund the money, offer an interview, come to the party, know that I am thinking of them. Everything in the letter serves that sentence. Jot the points you need to make as a short list, in the order the reader needs them, and cut anything that does not serve the purpose.
- Put the details at the top. For a formal letter: your address at the top right, the date in full below it, then the reader’s name, title and address on the left. The reader may not know who you are, so give them every way to reply. For a personal letter: your address and the date are enough. If you are sending the letter as an email, the email itself carries the date and your address, so start with the greeting; a letter attached to an email keeps the full layout. Formal Letter Format shows exactly where each part goes.
- Choose the greeting. It starts on the left and ends with a comma. Use the name if you have one: Dear Mr Patel, Dear Ms Okafor, Dear Dr Lee, or Dear Sam Taylor if you are not sure of the person’s title. Use Ms for a woman unless you know she prefers Mrs or Miss. If you have no name at all, write Dear Sir or Madam; “Dear Sirs” is out of date. For someone you know, use whatever you call them: Dear Sam, Dear Gran, Hello Jo.
- Write the opening paragraph. In a formal letter, say why you are writing in the first sentence and give any reference number: “I am writing to complain about the boiler service carried out on 4 March under contract 7731.” In a personal letter, the opening can be warmer and looser, but still get to the point within a few lines: “Thank you for having us last weekend” rather than a paragraph about the weather.
- Write the body. One point per paragraph, in a sensible order, usually the order things happened. Give facts: dates, names, amounts, what was said. Keep opinions for the end. A formal letter should fit on one page and never run past two; a personal letter can be as long as you have things to say, but the reader’s attention is still finite. Write in plain words and full sentences, and avoid the abbreviations and jokes of messaging unless you are writing to a friend who shares them.
- Write the closing paragraph. Say what you want to happen next and, in a formal letter, by when: “Please refund the £84.99 to my card within 14 days.” “I would be glad to come to an interview at any time after 10 June.” “Please let me know by Friday whether you can make it.” If you want a reply by phone or email rather than post, say so and give the number or address. Then thank the reader.
- Sign off. In a formal letter: Yours sincerely if you used the reader’s name, Yours faithfully if you wrote Dear Sir or Madam. In a personal letter: With love, Best wishes, All the best, or whatever fits. Leave space for a handwritten signature if you are posting the letter, then print your name underneath so there is no doubt how it is spelt.
Before you send it
- Read it aloud. Sentences that are hard to say aloud are hard to read. Shorten them.
- Check the facts. Every name, date, amount and reference number against the original documents. A wrong name on a complaint undoes the whole letter.
- Check the greeting and sign-off match. Named reader, Yours sincerely; Dear Sir or Madam, Yours faithfully. Readers notice.
- Check the spelling and punctuation. A spell-checker misses words that are real words in the wrong place. The guides to spelling and punctuation cover the mistakes that letters most often contain.
- Keep a copy. Photograph or scan a handwritten letter before it goes. For anything that matters, a signed-for postal service gives you proof of delivery.
- Address the envelope properly. Write the address clearly on the front, one line per element, with the town and the postcode on the last lines, and keep the rest of the front clear so that it can be read by machine; put your own address on the back so the letter can be returned if it cannot be delivered. Royal Mail’s website has its current addressing guidance.
Formal, personal and cover letters: the differences
The steps are the same; the settings change. A formal letter uses the full layout, a title and surname in the greeting, plain and neutral wording and a closing paragraph that asks for a specific action. A personal letter drops the reader’s address, uses first names, allows warmth and detail, and ends with something the reader can reply to. A cover letter is a formal letter with a fixed four-paragraph content: why you are writing, what you offer, why this employer, what happens next; it goes with a CV and must never repeat it. If you are writing to persuade rather than inform, the Copywriting guide covers the extra rules.
Tone: polite, plain, specific
The letters that get results are polite even when they are angry, plain even when the subject is complicated, and specific about what they want. Politeness keeps the reader on your side; a rude complaint gives them a reason to put you at the bottom of the pile. Plainness means the reader does not have to work: short sentences, everyday words, no jargon you would not use in speech. Specificity means they can act without writing back to ask what you meant. If you keep those three in mind, the format takes care of itself.
Templates and examples
When you know which kind of letter you are writing, the templates give you the layout ready to fill in: Business Letter Template, Complaint Letter Template, Personal Letter Template and Cover Letter Template. Letter Writing Examples shows four finished letters with notes on each part. For the conventions of written English, see Writing Conventions. If you have a question about any guide, or spot a mistake, use the Contact page.