How to write a Personal Letter

What is a personal letter?A letter that we write to someone we know or

someone we want to get to know.A personal letter is usually written to a

friend or relative, to express love and concern.

Common reasons for Writing Letters

To keep in touchTo relate some personal or family newsTo show love and concern for a personTo thank a person for a gift or something he or

she has doneTo ask for information for helpTo invite a person to a functionTo offer condolences or congratulationsTo respond to a letter or email you have

received

Features of a Personal LetterInformal and friendly tone (you are writing

to someone whom you know and with whom you are on good/familiar terms)

The closer our relationship to the recipient, the more personal and informal the tone

ToneThe way we use words to show how we feel about something, through the words we choose and the way we put our sentences together.

Features of a Personal LetterContents of a personal letter will depend

largely on why we are writing the letter. (purpose)

Tip: when writing a personal letter, remember1.Not to include the information that the

recipient already knows2.The reason for writing, i.e. the aim

of the letter3.To use to right tone and language in

the letter

IMPORTANT!Always know the Purpose, Audience, and

Context of writing this will help you to craft your letter accordingly and structure/streamline your letter-writing it will also help you avoid writing a very long and confusing letter

IMPORTANT!Purpose: WHY you are writing the letterAudience: WHO you are writing the letter toContext: WHAT circumstances are you

writing the letter under?

Format of Personal LetterAddressAddressAddress

Date

Dear __________

ContentContentContentContentContent

LoveSignature (Your Name)

Keep to the left margin, NO NEED FOR 2 FINGER SPACING for each new paragraph. Simply LEAVE A LINE between each paragraph

Address must be kept within 3 lines

Format of Personal LetterBlk 24A #12-345Cascade Crescent Singapore 987654

18 February 2015

Dear Annabelle

How’ve you been? It’s been months since I last heard from you! Are you still in the same accounting firm in London, or do you have plans to move elsewhere?

I’m still working at the National Library, and am currently in the midst of preparing for the annual book stock-taking. Things are rather busy right now! Come to think of it, it’s amazing how time flies, isn’t it? We have both been working for about a year now, yet it still seems like yesterday when we were studying at King’s College together! Have you been keeping in touch with Rebecca and Lizzie? I wonder how they are doing as well. I’m sad to say that I haven’t been keeping in touch with them after my return to Singapore, which is really a pity, as the four of us were really close at King’s College.

Recently, King’s College was featured in the newspapers in Singapore, and I caught a glimpse of the familiar path that we used to take from Butler Court to Princess Street in one of the pictures. It made me miss London so much, especially the morning walks that we used to take after breakfast which always led to the feeding of pigeons along the streets. That activity is something we don’t usually participate in over here in Singapore.

I do have plans to go over after the annual book stock-taking, though. That would probably be around 15-28 December, just in time for Christmas! I’m hoping to meet the three of you again, and perhaps spend Christmas Eve or Christmas Day together! It would be wonderful to meet up after months of not seeing each other! Let me know what you think of this plan, and if you are agreeable to it, I will write to Rebecca and Lizzie and ask them about it too!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

LoveSu Wen

Format of Personal EmailTo: Recipient’s Email AddressSubject: Subject of email

Dear _________

Content ContentContent

LoveSu Wen (Your Name, typed out)

Keep to the left margin, NO NEED FOR 2 FINGER SPACING for each new paragraph. Simply LEAVE A LINE between each paragraph

Format of Personal EmailTo: [email protected]: Keeping in Touch

Dear Annabelle

How’ve you been? It’s been months since I last heard from you! Are you still in the same accounting firm in London, or do you have plans to move elsewhere?

I’m still working at the National Library, and am currently in the midst of preparing for the annual book stock-taking. Things are rather busy right now! Come to think of it, it’s amazing how time flies, isn’t it? We have both been working for about a year now, yet it still seems like yesterday when we were studying at King’s College together! Have you been keeping in touch with Rebecca and Lizzie? I wonder how they are doing as well. I’m sad to say that I haven’t been keeping in touch with them after my return to Singapore, which is really a pity, as the four of us were really close at King’s College.

Recently, King’s College was featured in the newspapers in Singapore, and I caught a glimpse of the familiar path that we used to take from Butler Court to Princess Street in one of the pictures. It made me miss London so much, especially the morning walks that we used to take after breakfast which always led to the feeding of pigeons along the streets. That activity is something we don’t usually participate in over here in Singapore.

I do have plans to go over after the annual book stock-taking, though. That would probably be around 15-28 December, just in time for Christmas! I’m hoping to meet the three of you again, and perhaps spend Christmas Eve or Christmas Day together! It would be wonderful to meet up after months of not seeing each other! Let me know what you think of this plan, and if you are agreeable to it, I will write to Rebecca and Lizzie and ask them about it too!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

LoveSu Wen

Are the formats of personal letter and personal email the same?

What are the differences?

Tips for writing a personal letter/email

Show your love/concern for the person you are writing to

Try to interest the reader (and not bore the reader to sleep!) – don’t launch into a whole descriptive essay/paragraph! Try to think of it as writing to a real person and hoping to prompt him/her to reply!


Tone: Use a friendly, sincere, and conversational toneShow your care and concern – remember to ask how your recipient is doing and not just start talking about yourself!Be PERSUASIVE and CONVINCING!


Emotions: Share your feelings, as they are what make a letter personale.g. your likes/dislikes, something that made you happy/sad


Format and style: Write personal letters neatly and clearly (handwriting!!)Organise your writing into paragraphs


Connection: Connect with your recipient by responding to his/her questions or concerns from a previous letter/email, or by inviting a response from him/her

Education

How to write a Personal Letter