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A letter has five basic parts in order: your address and the date, the reader's address, a greeting, the body, and a closing with your signature. Write the body first if the opening feels hard, then add the greeting and closing last. Plain, direct sentences beat fancy wording every time.
If you have only ever written emails and messages, a letter can look formal and forbidding. It is not. A letter is a message with a slower pace and a fixed shape, and the shape does most of the work for you. Fill in the parts in order, write the way you speak, and you will have a letter that reads as confident even if it is your first.
| Part | What goes there | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Your address and date | Your street address, then the date on its own line | 12 Oak Street, Toronto, then October 31, 2026 |
| Reader's address | The name and address of the person or office | Ms. Lee, 40 Main Street, with title and company if any |
| Greeting | "Dear" plus the name, followed by a comma or colon | "Dear Ms. Lee," for formal mail; "Dear Sam," for personal mail |
| Body | The message itself, in short paragraphs | Purpose first, detail second, request last |
| Closing and signature | A sign-off line, space for your signature, then your printed name | "Sincerely," then your signature and printed name |
Personal letters often drop the addresses at the top and keep only the date, the greeting, the body, and the closing. That is fine for friends and family. Formal letters keep all five parts, because the recipient may file the letter and need to know who sent it and where to reply. When in doubt, keep all five: nothing is lost by including an address block, and a missing one can slow a reply.
Start with one sentence that says why you are writing. Then add the detail the reader needs, in short paragraphs. Then end with what you want: an answer, a fix, a meeting, or simply a reply. Three paragraphs cover most letters. The first says the purpose. The second gives the facts. The third says what happens next. If your letter needs more than that, check whether it is really two letters in one, and split it if so.
Write short sentences. A sentence that runs past three lines usually hides two thoughts, and splitting it makes both clearer. Read each sentence aloud after you write it. If you stumble, the reader will too. Cut words that add nothing: "very", "really", and "just" can often go without changing the meaning. Plain words are not simple-minded; they are respectful of the reader's time.
For someone you know by first name, "Dear Sam," is right. For someone you know by title and last name, "Dear Ms. Lee," is right. If you do not know the person's name, "Dear Sir or Madam," still works in formal mail, though finding a name is better when you can. Avoid "To whom it may concern" unless the letter is truly general, since it signals that you did not try to find the reader.
Closings follow the same rule of matching the relationship. "Sincerely," suits almost any formal letter. "Yours truly," is a close cousin. "Best regards," suits business contacts you know a little. Personal letters can close with "Best," "Take care," or "Love," depending on the relationship. The rule is simple: the closer the relationship, the warmer the closing. A cold closing to a friend reads as distant; a gushing closing to a stranger reads as odd.
The most common is burying the point. First-time writers often warm up for a page before saying why they wrote. Put the purpose in the first paragraph, even if it feels abrupt. Readers are grateful, not offended. The second common mistake is the opposite: a letter so brief that the reader cannot act on it. Include the facts that identify the matter: names, dates, and reference numbers. A letter without them earns a reply asking for them, which wastes a round trip.
A third mistake is copying fancy phrasing from old letter guides. Phrases like "I hereby beg to inform you" sound stiff today and can make a simple request feel like a legal threat. Write as you would speak to the person politely, then tidy the grammar. A fourth mistake is forgetting to sign. A typed name alone, with no signature space, looks unfinished in a printed letter. Leave room for your signature above your printed name, and sign it before sending.
Read the letter once from start to finish, as the reader will. Check three things: does the first paragraph say why you wrote, does every paragraph do one job, and does the ending say what you want? Then check the small things: spelling of the reader's name, correct dates and numbers, and a signature. Have someone else read it if you can; a fresh pair of eyes catches a missing fact faster than the writer ever will.
Then stop revising. A letter can always be improved, but a letter that never gets sent helps no one. If it says what you mean, says it plainly, and has the right names and facts, it is ready. Confidence in letter writing comes from finishing one, not from planning a perfect one.
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