by Silva Payne

Created on: April 15, 2009   Last Updated: December 24, 2010

It is surprising how so many people seem to have lost the skill of writing a traditional letter. Many people over the age of 40, and even more younger individuals struggle with how to compose a letter and how to set it out on the page. There are still times when a handwritten letter will be more appropriate than a text or phone call. For this reason, knowing how to write a letter is an important skill to learn.

Before you write your letter, you need to be sure that you know how to get it to the recipient. If it is a letter to be tucked underneath a pillow, behind a windshield wiper blade, or dropped through a letter box by hand, then you only need to address the envelope with a name. If you intend to send the letter via one or more postal systems, you must have the correct address, including zip code or whatever postal code the destination country uses.

You should also put your return address details somewhere on the envelope. Different countries do this is various places, for example in the US, the return address goes on the top left hand corner of the front of the envelope, but in the UK, the return address should be written on the reverse of the envelope accompanied by the word "sender". If you are sending your letter overseas and do not want it to take months, you will also need to either write "Air Mail" on the envelope or attach a sticker stating the same.

Now to the contents of the letter. Your recipient needs to know where to respond to once they receive the letter, so you should put your full address in the top right corner (unless you are using headed note paper). You may want to include your email address underneath or a telephone number. Opposite your address, on the left hand side, you can put the date, in whatever format you usually use.

There is no rule to say that you must include your recipient's address anywhere on your letter. Many people, particularly businesses, add the destination address at the top left, because as the letter is folded, the address is visible through the window of the envelope. Personal letters do not need this. The person you are sending the letter to knows their own address!

If you know the person's name, you should start with a "Dear whoever" or something less formal such as "Hi there!". If you do not know the person's name, begin with "Dear Sir or Madam,". This should go a couple of lines directly below the date. On the next line, if this is a formal letter, you can put the subject of the letter, such as "Re:

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