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How to Write a Personal Letter

How to Write a Personal Letter

Everybody should know how to write a personal letter because writing this letter is one of the best ways of making someone or a loved one smile- wikihow.com .

A personal letter is also called a friendly letter. This is a letter that deals with personal matters– thefreedictionary.com.

Personal letters are basically used in personal communication contexts. They include holiday letters and complaint letters. When a personal letter is compared to an email, it has a stronger sense of personal connection with the sender or the author- owl.english.purdue.edu.

Examples of personal letters

If you always find yourself with very personal messages that you want to send but lack words or skills for writing a letter that will create your desired connection with the recipient or impression, you need to know how to write a personal letter.

Here are examples of personal letters that you may want to write:

  • Happy-news letter

This is a letter that you can send to communicate news about your anniversary, birthday, graduation or any other life achievement.

  • Introduction letter

This is a personal letter for initiating a friendship or relationship or simply observing introduction etiquette.

  • Correspondence

This is a personal letter for maintaining contact with relatives and friends

  • Appreciation letter

This is a letter that is sent in responding to a kindness act.

A good personal letter requires time to write and it sounds like a conversation to the reader. It has the potential of establishing a good relationship- grammar.about.com.

Guidelines to help you know how to write a personal letter

A personal letter has a format that has different sections that should be written as follows:

  • Your address

Your address or the address of the sender should be included at the top part on the right-hand side of the letter or page. Including your address in a personal letter is very important because if the return address of the letter is torn, the recipient will have the address to use in replying to your letter- auspost.com.au.

Example:

24 San Benito Road.

Brisbane, CA 93006

  • Date

The date when the letter is written should be included below the address in the format of Month, Day and then Year.

Example:

24 San Benito Road.

Brisbane, CA 93006

June 16, 2015.

  • Opening salutations

After the date, skip one line and then write the opening salutation. There are different types of salutations that can be used to open a personal letter. The chosen salutation for each letter varies depending on the purpose and recipient of the letter. For instance, you can open your letter with “Dear”, “Hello” or “Hi”. These are considered neutral because they do not connote intimacy of any degree between the writer and the reader. Other examples of opening salutations include “Good Day” and “Season’s Greetings”.

Examples:

Dear Mr. Ben,

Hi, Beatrice,

Dear Reverend Peter,

The name of the recipient should follow the opening salutation as indicated in the examples. You can use a single name or full names with capitalized titles such as Mr. Ms. Mrs. and Dr.

  • Body

In the body, you write the main content of your personal letter. The body should start with pleasantries. Make the first paragraph lighthearted and warm. This enables you to set a good tone for the letter as well as letting the reader know that the next parts of the letter will be friendlier and not serious or businesslike. Therefore, use your first lines to extend your salutations.

Example:

“Dear Joyce

How are you? I hope you are enjoying your college life…”

The body of a personal letter is the section where you should share personal details and news. This section is where you communicate the main message of the letter. Paragraphs should be separated by one line. Between the closing and where the body ends, skip two lines- englishplus.com. Discuss topics that your reader will find relevant or topics of mutual interest.

  • Closing

Make sure that the reader knows that you are ending the letter. You can achieve this by wrapping up your letter properly. For instance, you can send best wishes to your loved ones or friends by making your last paragraph lighter than the others in the body. Ensure that the end of the letter impart positive feelings in your recipient.

Example:

“Kindly say hello to everyone and try to visit soon.

Much Love,”

At the end of a personal letter’s closing, there should be a comma. The tone of the closing should be aligned with the tone of the letter. The relationship that you have with the reader should determine the closing.

Examples:

Formal closing- “Warmly,” “Best wishes” or “Sincerely,”

Casual tone- “Take care,” “Yours,” or “Cheers,”

Intimate closing- “Much love,” Love,” “One love,”

  • Signature

After the closing, skip one line then include your signature or name.

Example:

“Henry P.”

  • PostScript

In the postscript section, you include information that you may find important to the recipient. You simply write P.S followed by that information or message. You may also include a P.P.S followed by a P.P.P.S.

Example:

“P.S: We now have a new 32 inch flat screen television and you are welcome to watch the latest movies with us this summer holiday.”

Information to include in a personal letter

Basically, a personal letter can be about anything as long as it is written conversationally. Although you need to be kind in your personal letter, you are not limited to what you can and what you cannot include in a personal letter. Therefore, think about your recipient and what they would like to know from you.

Here are suggestions of the information that you can include in a personal letter:

  • Sports team, hobbies and school updates
  • Pets, family and friends’ news
  • Funny jokes, a movie that you may have watched, a good video game or a new song
  • Things that have been happening within your city, town or street
  • Birthdays, holidays, achievements, school camps and other exciting or special events that you wish to share with your friend
  • Anything new and relevant to your recipient

The best way of knowing how to write a personal letter and the information to include is to think about the moments that you shared with the person that you are writing the letter to. This will enable you to determine the information that your recipient will find interesting. Such an approach also enables you to update your recipient on the things that may have happened since the last time you met. Also ask your recipient about their life, what they are up to these days and their endeavors.

More tips on how to write a personal letter

Although there are different categories of personal letters, there are tips that can guide you in writing a great personal letter.

They include:

  • Start with a draft letter

Writing a draft shows that you know what you want to tell your recipient. This implies that you have clear points for your personal letter.

  • Use a neat and clear handwriting

A bad handwriting can spoil your recipient’s excitement. Therefore, make your letter easy to read by using a neat and clear handwriting.

  • Communicate clearly

A personal letter should use simple language. Use a language that you are certain that your recipient will understand. Make sure that your message comes out clearly and in a friendly tone.

  • Avoid anything messy

In case you use sequins or glitter in a personal letter, ensure that they are stuck down properly so that when the recipient opens the letter they will not be spilled all over.

  • Edit your letter

Once you have written your letter, read it carefully to ensure that you have spelt words correctly and that it is free of grammatical errors.

Sample personal letter

505 County Lane

North Bayville, CA 4526

June 19, 2015

Dear Anthony,

How are you? What are you up to these days? I hope you are enjoying your summer holiday. I know it is only a month since we met. So far I am enjoying my summer vacation.

I spend most of my weekends with friends at the beach and this is giving me a great tan. I also play volleyball, surf and collect seashells with my new neighbor. She is so nice and I will introduce you to her when you visit. I have also been selling ice creams to kids and this is earning me some extra coins though the pay is not much.

It is only a month before the summer vacation ends. I really miss you and I would like to meet you before then. Please visit soon.

Your friend,

Jane

Cheers!

P.S Bro Ken said hi

We hope you now know how to write a personal letter from the above guidelines.

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Sources

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/letter-writing-101/

http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000143.htm

http://auspost.com.au/education/letterwriting/students/personal-letters.html

http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/Personal-Letter.htm

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/992/01/

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/personal+letter

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Friendly-Letter

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