In the age of computer technologies, when we have digital tools for fast messaging, we don’t use to write traditional letters. However, it makes letters more significant and wanted than ever. If you send a short message or an emoji to another person, they can lose it because of hundreds of other messages they receive. If you send a well-written friendly letter to a person, they would notice it and their emotions to you will be much stronger.
There are rules for writing traditional letters and you should follow them. If you are writing to make an impression, it is recommended to follow the best tips on creating friendly and other letters. You can also look for ready templates of such a letter to see how to write them correctly.
If you improve your skills in letter writing, it would be much helpful for you. These skills are valuable when you are going to apply for a job, send the business proposal to a future partner, or speak with your relatives who live far away from you. If you learn how to write a letter professionally, it will help you speak more easily with any person.
The Heading
Most usually, this part contains the address of the recipient and the date of writing. If you place the address in another place, there is no need in adding it on the top of your letter and you can add only the date to your header.
The address of the recipient should be correct and there will be no problems with its delivery. If a person could move to another place, please check that the address in the header is still valid or use another address.
The date in the header specifies the day when your letter is created, and if you work on it for several days, you can put there the date of finishing and signing the letter. There is no recommended style for the date formatting. You can add it with the name of the month, like February 7, 2018, or use just numbers if it’s easier for you.
The Salutation
You should start the body by creating a short salutation that includes the name of the recipient. It may sound like “Dear Max” or “Hello, John”, it should be short and not contain any unnecessary information that can be added in the next lines.
The style of the salutation depends on your relationship with the recipient; if you use to say “Hello” to this person, then you can use this word also in the greeting. If you need to highlight your friendly relationship, you may use “Dear”. If this person is respectable and much older than you, add “Mr.” or “Mrs.” to the name of the recipient.
The Main Text
Start it with the pleasantries. Show how long you waited for the possibility to send this letter, how much are you enjoying it, and how much you want to get the response. The person should feel your friendly tone from the first lines.
The content of this part may also depend on the time of the year or other circumstances; if this is the day after holidays, you can ask your recipient how they spent it. If there were a special event in the city where your recipient works, you may ask them whether they attended it and if they liked it. If there are no special things to speak about, you can just ask the person how they are doing.
In the next paragraph, tell them about how you are doing, the news of your life, and other recent information about you, it depends on the time when you spoke with this person. If you didn’t speak for a year, you should write about what happened during this year, but if you had a conversation a few months ago, only the events that happened during these months should be mentioned.
Don’t add too much information in this paragraph, because this will be not a friendly letter but your own chronicles. Tell the recipient about only the most valuable moments from your life that have the significance for them too. If you have common interests, like watching soccer, you can describe your reaction on the recent soccer games.
Don’t lie or alter the facts in your letter. If you didn’t have many interesting moments recently or if you don’t want to share them, it is better to make this paragraph small but true. It would not be the friendly style if you try to deceive the recipient.
After that, you should write a paragraph that is focused on your common interests. If you both like a movie that was released several years ago, you can describe your reaction on its sequel that was released recently. If you both studied at the same school, write about what you learned about other your classmates and where they study now.
If you think well, you can find dozens of topics that are interesting for you both. However, even if you prefer to speak with this person much, you shouldn’t make this paragraph too big, you should just focus on the most significant common interests.
Before the Closing
After the main content of your letter, you should write a good positive closing. Send the best wishes to your recipient, show your friendly respect to them, and describe that you want to meet them personally.
The closing should be connected with the purpose of your letter. If you are writing it to invite your friend to a cinema, write that you wish that they can come. You can also connect it with the coming events like wishing your friend to have good holidays.
You can write there about your desire to get the response or meet the friend personally. You may ask them to write back when possible, write you via the messenger, or meet with you soon.
The Closing
This is the short line with your name. If you are writing a formal letter, you can use “Sincerely,” or other similar words. If you are friends for many years, you can use words like “Yours,” , it depends on how you are related and how would you say Goodbye when speaking in other ways.
After that, write your name. If you are in a very good relationship, you can add just your name. If your recipient has other friends with the first name like yours, you should add the first letter of your last name or write it fully.
You can also add a postscript text under the closing. Many years ago, people used it when they forgot to write something in the main part of the letter. You can use it to write about something significant and it requires its own paragraph.
Tips on Creating Friendly Letters
– If you are writing it on a paper, make sure you will have enough place for all the paragraphs. If the size of the paper is small, reduce the number of lines. You cal use the smaller font size too.
– Don’t write only about yourself, show that the recipient means much to you, and you can tell them about things that are significant for you both or only for this person.
– Show that you also respect the family of your friend. Ask them how their parents or kids are doing, what do they like, and what are they usually doing.
– Check that there are no errors in the address because it can cause problems with delivery and your recipient may not receive this piece of paper.
– Don’t write too often. If there were just a few days from the previous letter, it is better to use email or messengers for easier speaking. The exception is people who like classic mailing and can send or receive letters every day.
– Try to make a central idea of the paper. If there are many ideas or statements, it is difficult for your friend to concentrate on them, that is why you should make accent on the most significant sentences of the paper.
– Don’t use inappropriate greeting and closing styles. You could different salutations, but not all of them are suitable for your letter, that is why you should check the difference between different types of greetings and closings.
– If you are going to make your paper more readable, type it on the computer and print. It will be neater, clearer, and simpler for reading than the handwritten text.
– Focus on the most positive moments of your relationship, because after reading your text, your friend should not feel stress or other bad emotions.
– Don’t write about very private things. Other people may access to this letter, and if it contains the confidential details, it is better to use other ways to speak about it.
– If your friend lives far away from you, the period of delivery can be very long, and the recipient may receive the paper in a few days or weeks.
