Informal Letter Format

Writing an informal letter to someone? Hard to surmise isn't it? I mean if the letter is informal, which means it has no commercial importance, nor is there a need to impress the recipient with your dashing letter formatting skills.

Good question, isn't it? Even I thought so at the time and I went up to my English language teacher who was going on and on about the correct format of an informal letter and told her, with quite a bit of self-assurance, that if ever a day comes where I write a love letter to my future girlfriend, rest assured I'm following no guidelines. My teacher quietly smiled at me and went about the class with her usual unruffled demeanor.

Fast forward 10 years, I was writing the letter to my girlfriend-informal, no less-and I found myself following the same format which my teacher had told me about!

General Format

Funny isn't it? But any letter, whatever it may be, will always follow the same format which it should and which is taught in schools all over the world. Why so?

Perhaps it is because, informal though it is, it is still a statement of some facts, feelings, emotions, or otherwise a desire to communicate something to someone. And hence in order to ensure that the recipient of the letter does indeed 'get the message', an informal letter too needs to be structured, although perhaps not as rigidly as a formal letter, so that the communication is complete and well rounded off.

Self-Introduction
A little about the writer here. The letter starts spelling out your name and your address. After all, the recipient should know who the sender is. The name and address should be written on the top-right corner of the letter. Make sure that it occupies much less than half the length of the letter itself, on the right side.

Salutation and Name of the Recipient
Of course, the salutation part can be completely unnecessary if you're writing to a friend or your girlfriend or wife. But the name of the recipient is a fairly commonsense part of the letter as they should know that the letter is meant for them.

Introduction Paragraph
Or just the one main body paragraph if you really don't have that much to say. You can either wrap the letter up in the first paragraph itself, by getting straight to the point, (informal, see?) or write a small introduction in the beginning. Then you can continue the letter with the appropriate number of paragraphs as may be required.

Sign Off!
Of course, it is always good to make sure that the recipient of the letter knows who's sending it. So on the bottom right of the page, say 'yours sincerely,' or 'thanking you,' or 'yours faithfully,' or words to that effect which you feel fit the bill and write your name in the last line, just below.

P.S.
The 'P.S.' or the postscript is something which I have never been able to fully comprehend the importance of. Usually it is used for dramatic effect or emphasis, I guess (as in P.S. I Love You). Or to draw the readers attention to something which the reader might end up glossing over. Either way, the P.S. Is the last line of your letter, if you choose to include it.

An Example

Still confused? Then maybe this sample might come to the rescue! Now I know this contains no matter, but then, I wouldn't want to share what I write in my personal friendly letters!

Name of the Addresser, Address of the Addresser. Dear Addressee, (Paragraph 1)________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________. (Paragraph 2)_________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. Yours sincerely, Addresser.

Writing a letter is something we all do at some point of time, and hence it is important to know how to write it!