Write an Informal Letter

An informal letter or a personal letter is a letter to a close friend or an

acquaintance. Isn’t it wonderful to receive such a letter from a friend?
Better yet, isn’t it wonderful to actually write one?
The best way of learning how to write letters, I reckon, is to look at a
number of specimens, analyse what has to be done and perhaps what
does not have to be done, don’t you agree?
Of course there are no hard and fast rules about how to write an
informal letter and common sense dictates that someone may use
whatever works best for him. However, there is a conventional way of
going about it that will make all the difference if you apply it.
Let’s start off by reviewing a letter I wrote to my sister some four years
ago:

1. Address and date

 Some people may think the address is not important in an
informal letter and prefer to leave it out. That works well if the
person you are writing to knows your address already or if she
has a good memory! However, it is very unlikely that someone
will always remember your address, so it is always a good idea
to include it. Remember, this is the address they have to write to
for the letter to reach you. The recipient’s address is on the
envelope.
The address and date should be in the right hand corner. If I
were writing to a person in another country, I would have
preferred to add the following details:
Hillcrest Secondary School,
P.O Box 60453,
Livingstone,
ZAMBIA
10101
7th February 2004
Since she already lives in Zambia, it is not necessary to include
the country and the postcode i.e. 10101. However, if you
are writing to someone outside the country, always include your
country and post code.
After you have written the address, leave a line and write the
date.
2. Salutation
3. The most common salutation in an informal letter is “Dear….”
Note that it is followed by a comma.
Dear Mimi,
However, some go extremely informal and use “Hey!” or “Hi!”
You should use your discretion. Obviously if you are writing to
your father, you would not use “Hey!” unless of course you are
extremely close.
4. Body
Here are a few things you should take note of:
1. Paragraphs:
Since informal letters are usually written by hand, the
paragraphs are usually indented. However, with more
people using their computers to do most of theirwriting(and
I have a bad feeling most people will forget how to write
 with their hands), it is becoming a common practice to
write paragraphs without indentations—like the way this
one is written. This, apparently, is the modern way
of writingparagraphs.
use informal language
The first paragraph generally expresses a greeting, followed by wishes
of good health. Remember you are writing to someone you know very
well, so try to be as friendly as possible:
How are you my dear sister?
However, always use your discretion. Try not to go overboard. Some
people become bold and daring in letters and write things that they
would otherwise not say to the person face to face. Obviously if you
are writing to an adult that you respect, like your dad, try not to write
things like:
“What’s up dude!” or “What’s going down?”
Try to picture the person you are writing to standing in front of you.
Imagine the things that you would say to him and write them down.
This will help you not to go overboard.
Also avoid boring sentences like…
“I am writing this letter to….”
…unless you are writing to a stranger. Even so, try to be as amiable as
possible:
I have heard so much about you and would be head over
heels with joy if you could agree to be my pen pal
• Try to be as conversational as possible. You are allowed to use
colloquial language – i.e. language that is appropriate
for speech but not really for writing:
My journey back here was fine, though it was quite a
long one. I wanted to travel by CR bus but guess what;
all the wretched buses were full! So I had no choice but
to travel by a small Rosa bus. The journey took seven
hours. By the time we reached, my legs were tried and
my bottom was severely sore, ugh! Next time, I promise,
I’m not gonna use one of ‘em tiny buses!
However informal you get, you should not forget to pay attention
to…
• punctuation and spelling
I have come across a good number of letters that abound with
spelling mistakes and awful punctuation. Such mistakes tend to
 distract the reader, so don’t neglect them even though you
know your friend will understand.
The quality of your letter also speaks volumes about the kind of
person you are so all the more reason to be careful!
If you use contractions, make sure that you put the apostrophe
in the right places. For example:
Isn’t and not is’nt
won’t and not wont
mustn’t and not must’nt
• The contraction it’s is especially one that you must watch out for.
It is the short form of it is or it has. But if you want to use it to
indicate possession, you should use itsand not it’s. Check out
this example:
The dog lost its collar.
Remember also to use capitals for the right things i.e. the names
of people, places,holidays, etc should all start with a capital
letter.
Bottom line? Don’t throw away your grammar book!
• Use consistence voice and style
Use the active voice if you want your letter to sound more
conversational and interesting. Avoid shifts in the
voice. Check out this article on the advantage of using the active
voice: Use active Voice
One common error is inconsistency in the tense. For example
read the following sentence:
I was going to town yesterday when a dog bite me and I ran all
the way to the hospital.
Here is a sentence with starts in the past tense and then right in
the middle, the tense changes to present and then finally reverts
to past. Even if your friend is very understanding, this is still
distracting.
• Ask questions
It is always a good idea to ask questions in the body of the letter
that you would like the person to answer in their reply. Questions
work as a good base on which to write a letter, and they give the
recipient motivation to reply:
How are those wonderful brothers of mine?
Did I tell you that I am librarian too, eh?
Complimentary close
This is where you sign off, i.e. say toodle- oo:
Take care,
Michael
In informal letter writing, the complimentary close is always very
friendly:
Love,
Lots of love,
Best wishes,
Missing you lots,
Yours forever,
etcetera…
1. Remember, a comma always follows the complimentary close.
2. Post Script
Use P.S. to add a short message after the complimentary close.
Use it especially to write down something that you may have
forgotten in the body of the letter.

Ah, I am certain that these tidbits will help you write a great informal
letter!
Oh, what was that you are asking? How do I properly write the
recipient’s address on the envelope?
No problem, I have that covered. check the example below:
N.B:You may choose to leave out the commas after each line in the
address.

Here are some more sample informal letters:

The first is a letter from George to his girlfriend Lisa, whereas the
second is her reply:

Informal Sample letter # 2

I would love you to take note of the following in these informal letter
sample:
• In the first paragraph, George offers greetings, as well as a
comment on his past and previous state of health.
George takes care to mention the things of lesser important
first. Obviously, the informal letter is not about Trevor, so he
deals with this first. I like the way he skilfully shifts the attention
from Trevor to his girl friend in the closing sentence of paragraph
two:
...What I did tell him was that your radiant smile is lighting up the
entrance of the MTN offices.
In my own opinion, it is a good idea to mention the by-the-way
and less essential things first, and then concentrate on the
important things in the body.
• The content of your letter should be tailored in such a way that it
elicits a response on its own. In short, it should be substantial
enough to prod the reader to respond (It is weak and totally
uncool to beg for a reply).
A teasing statement like:
I am sure that the very idea of marrying a jobless and destitute
man repels you enormously!
is bound to elicit a response, especially a defensive one. Learn
to write in a manner that will compel the reader to reply. I am
sure we are past the 'Pliz reply' postscript!
• It is true that most people remember most what they read last, so
in your concluding paragraph, mention something substantial.
George uses the last paragraph to emphasise the closeness of
their bond:
Take care dear! Remember, I am here—right here, in your heart.
• Note the extra-friendly complimentary close. The complimentary
close often saves to indicate how close you are to the person
you are writing to; the more affectionate, the closer the
friendship.
• Yours forever,
George
Here was Lisa's reply:
 Informal letter sample # 3

Take note of the following:

1. Lisa does not find it necessary to write out the complete date. In
fact, since George knows her so well, she might choose to leave
out the address altogether.
2. Notice the extra affectionate salutation:
Dearest George
3. Be wary about using abbreviations.If you are to use them, make
sure that you write them out in full in parenthesis if your reader
will not know what they mean. In our example, Lisa uses the
 abbreviation TLC and does not write it in full because she is
certain that George knows what it means.
4. Note too the very affectionate complementary close:
Lots of love,
Lisa