Formal writing

Formal Letters

Writing letters today, among friends and relations, is considered a practice in antiquity. The use of modern technology keeps us away from it.
However writing letters is still in practice in the government sector and in the corporate world in the communication of official, legal and confidential maters. A business letter acts as an ambassador for a government institution, a company or an NGO, it is vital that it gives a good first impression.
Therefore, learning to write formal / business / official letters is very useful in this competitive world.

In formal letter writing scenario, we have to follow some imporatnt tips to make its' organization.

Keep to the 5 ‘C’s in communication: correctness, conciseness, clarity, completeness and courtesy.

Use appropriate tone:
This depends on the choice of the writer’s words. The writer communicates his/her message but cannot help showing his/her emotional attitude towards the reader through his/her choice of words in conveying the message.
E.g. If the writer is angry about the receiver, he may use words that imply anger. Thus the writer’s message may sound angry, friendly, formal, persuasive, aggressive, humorous, sarcastic or offensive. Even if you are unhappy about your business partner, customer, client or your professional advisor, you must not use any impolite terms or words carrying derogatory or unpleasant meanings.
People also sometimes use old, out dated and obsolete expressions. Again a set of active voice words bluntly accusing the receiver may sound decent in the passive voice. Considering all these matters, you can use modern, simple and more polite terms.
Some examples are:

Instead of	You can write
We cannot do anything about your problem	unfortunately we are unable to help you on this occasion
I am writing to complain because I am very unhappy with the way I was treated in your office this morning.	I am most unhappy with the standard of service offered in your office this morning
We acknowledge receipt of your letter of 14th May.	Thank you for your letter of 14th May
Enclosed herewith you find a message from the president	I enclose a message of the president
Please be good enough to advise me.	Please let me know
We shall be in a position to	We shall be able to
We maintain that you are responsible for the damages and you have to pay for the damages immediately	We expect that the damages incurred on your side may be compensated as soon as possible.
You had closed the office before the normal closing hour	The office had been closed before the normal closing hour
You have given me the wrong information	I have been given the wrong information
I presume that you have made a mistake and have included part of another order in the consignment.	I presume that a mistake has been made and a part of another order has been included in the consignment.

The opening of a business letter may include a subject line (subject heading) (topic) that refers to previous correspondence or it may be a summary of the content of the message. The subject line should not be a complete sentence. Eg-:
- Frequent power failures in the area
- Renovation of the building
- Resignation with two months’ notice
- Closing the campus to prevent the spread of chickenpox

The opening sentence will state the reason for the communication. It is important because it sets the tone of the letter and creates the first impression. (It is like the thesis statement of an essay).

A few examples:
- Thank you for your resume and the cover letter dated 14th March 2018 for the post of a lecturer.
- I am writing to inquire about the upcoming IELTS exam dates.
- I am writing in connection with the prices of your smartphones.
- Thank you for your interest in opening a current account in our bank.
- I am writing to inform you about the loss of my passport.
- Thank you for your inquiry dated 6th May 2019 in which you asked us about our range of prices for printing.
- books and anthologies of a variety of sizes.
- I am a student of your campus and am currently following the MBA programme.
The body is the main part of your letter. Usually there are 4 paragraphs in the body. In the body, the writer has to make his/her points clearly, in a logical sequence. The contents in the paragraphs depend on the type of the letter.