7 Essential Letter Writing Strategies

Based on the feedback that I have been getting from visitors to my writinghelp-central.com Web site, letter writing is definitely the area where most people are looking for help or guidance when it comes to day-to-day writing.

Over 55% of the visitors to my site are seeking some sort of letter writing information or assistance. The following lists the Top Ten letters that people request information on, in order of popularity:

* recommendation letter

* resignation letter

* thank you letter

* reference letter

* business letter

* complaint letter

* cover letter

* sales letter

* introduction letter

* apology letter

The 7 Strategies

Here are a few practical letter-writing tips and strategies to help you when writing that next letter:

1. Keep It Short And To The Point

Letters involving business (personal or corporate) should be concise, factual, and focused. Try to never exceed one page or you will be at risk of losing your reader. A typical letter page will hold 350 to 450 words. If you can't get your point across with that many words you probably haven't done enough preparatory work. If necessary, call the recipient on the phone to clarify any fuzzy points and then use the letter just to summarize the overall situation.

2. Make It Clear, Concise, And Logical

Before sitting down to write, make a brief point-form outline of the matters you need to cover in the letter. Organize those points into a logical progression that you can use as your guide as you write the letter. The logical blocks of the letter should be: 1. introduction/purpose, background/explanation, summary/conclusion, action required statement. Use this outline process to organize your approach and your thoughts, and to eliminate any unnecessary repetition or redundancy.

3. Focus On The Recipient's Needs

While writing the letter, focus on the information requirements of your audience, the intended addressee. If you can, in your "mind's eye", imagine the intended recipient seated across a desk or boardroom table from you while you are explaining the subject of the letter. What essential information does that person need to know through this communication? What will be their expectations when they open the letter? Have you addressed all these issues?

4. Use Simple And Appropriate Language

Your letter should use simple straightforward language, for clarity and precision. Use short sentences and don't let paragraphs exceed three or four sentences. As much as possible, use language and terminology familiar to the intended recipient. Do not use technical terms and acronyms without explaining them, unless you are certain that the addressee is familiar with them.

5. Use Short Sentences And Paragraphs

Keep your sentences as short as possible, and break the text up into brief paragraphs. Ideally, a paragraph should not exceed two to three sentences. This will make the letter more easily readable, which will entice the recipient to read it sooner, rather than later.

6. Review And Revise It

Do a first draft, and then carefully review and revise it. Put yourself in the place of the addressee. Imagine yourself receiving the letter. How would you react to it? Would it answer all of your questions? Does it deal with all of the key issues? Are the language and tone appropriate? Sometimes reading it out loud to one's self can help. When you actually "hear" the words it is easy to tell if it "sounds" right or not.

7. Double Check Spelling And Grammar

A letter is a direct reflection of the person sending it, and by extension, the organization that person works for. When the final content of the letter is settled, make sure that you run it through a spelling and grammar checker. To send a letter with obvious spelling and grammatical errors is sloppy and unprofessional. In such cases, the recipient can't really be blamed for seeing this as an indication as to how you (and/or your organization) probably do most other things.

The foregoing basic letter writing strategies and tips are mostly common sense. Nevertheless, you would be amazed how often these very basic "rules of thumb" are not employed when people write letters.

© 2005 by Shaun Fawcett

Shaun Fawcett, is webmaster of the popular writing help site WritingHelp-Central.com. He is also the author of several best selling "writing toolkit" eBooks. All of his eBooks and his internationally acclaimed f-r-e-e course, "Tips and Tricks For Writing Success" are available at his writing tools site: http://www.writinghelptools.com

---

In Your Own Words

More Tips For New Writers (Part I)Explain in your own... Read More

Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 3 of 6

ELICIT, ILLICITElicit means to extract or draw out; illicit means... Read More

Starting a Freelance Writing Career (or Thoughts About Taking the Plunge)

Nike's ad has taken on new meaning for me of... Read More

Editing and Polishing - How Much is Enough?

A few days ago, I critiqued a chapter for a... Read More

Documenting Everything: Your Journal is Your Logbook

Sailors had it for years. Great explorers had it as... Read More

The Beginners Guide to Freelance Writing

The Big IdeaOkay. So youve figured out that you would... Read More

Its All About YOU!

The Hottest Word on the WebDid you know marketing people... Read More

Teachers Should Write, During Their Summers

Before I became a teacher, I was a sports writer.... Read More

Is Your Title Compelling?

Short Story Writing Tips:Your title is your selling tool. It's... Read More

Break in with Fillers: The Best Market for New Writers

Interested in breaking into writing or breaking into a new... Read More

Screenwriting ? The Value of Structure

Structure in the form of frameworks, work processes and goals... Read More

Plotting Problems - Episodic Writing

The rejection letter says: "Your story, on the surface, appears... Read More

Another Way to Show Your Expertise: Write a Book!

Maybe you should write a book! This is not as... Read More

10 Secrets For Writing Killer Complaint Letters

Complaint letters aren't always fun, but sometimes they need to... Read More

Publication Road

The journey to having my first novel for children published... Read More

Writing For Free: When & When Not to Do It!

Right off the bat, I want to say that there... Read More

Knock-Out Writers Block: Listening To Your Inner Voice

When I was young, I used to talk to myself.... Read More

And What Do You Do? ... How To Know When Youre a Writer!

It's the funniest thing. When someone asks me what I... Read More

How To Write Your Book Within A Week

Everyone has a book inside them, or so the saying... Read More

A Quick Guide to ISBNs for Self-Publishers

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a... Read More

Nonfiction Idea Generators

The hardest part of nonfiction writing is finding a subject... Read More

Important Points of Fiction

Fiction manuscripts receive feedback that addresses and scores:· The theme... Read More

Review of A Classic: Finneys Invasion of The Body Snatchers

To keep it simple and basic: Jack Finney's Invasion of... Read More

Writing HI-LO Material (High Interest, Low Ability) for Slow Readers

To write books for readers at an elementary reading level... Read More

Leveraging Your Writing

A frequent conversation I have with my writing clients is... Read More

Top Seven Ways to Select a Book Topic That Sells

Authors need to write their book according to their target... Read More

The Opportunities As A Freelance Proofreader in the UK

A UK based freelance proofreader should be able to provide... Read More

The Daily Rite

If you want to be a writer, then you must... Read More

A Perfect Day for Writers

In one of the exercises in my "Getting Started as... Read More

Italics Part 2 - Using Italics to Show Thoughts

Way back in your early school years, you were probably... Read More

Screenwriting ? Five Golden Insights

Originality emerges from structure. Once you have a story idea,... Read More

Write With Passion: 4 Steps To Emotionally Charge A Nonfiction Article

You have just completed a draft of an article. It... Read More

Writing With Power: 5 Snappy Rules For Success

Almost everyone could profit from enhancing their writing skills. From... Read More