Do you want to know how to write an informal letter to your friends or someone you know who is very close to you like your family member? An informal letter is the type of letter written in a style that is more friendly and familiar in comparison to a formal letter which need the writer to write to his/her recipient in strict and respectful language..
Here, we are going to write about format, features, types, examples and how to write an informal letter to someone step by step. If you are interested to know how to write an informal letter, then let’s continue as we have got you covered in this article.
An informal letter is also a type of letter writing comprised the address of the sender, date, address of receiver, salutation/greeting, body, conclusion and signature of the sender. As its name implies, an informal letters are a lot more casual than formal letters. That means there aren’t nearly as many rules and guidelines and the receiver will not mind if the sender don’t leave a blank space in the right spot.
However, many people want to know the correct format of an informal letter. If you are the one of such people, just simply follow the steps below as an instance.
Now, step by step guides on how to write an informal letter from start to end are listed and explained below one by one.
How to write an informal letter
Step 1: Put the date at the top (optional)
When writing an informal letter, putting the date at the top of it is a custom stemming from a time when letter writing was the primary means of communication. perhaps, nowadays, including the date is no longer a necessity, but some people still do it because of tradition. In informal letters, it’s completely optional.
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Step 2: Write the salutation
Just like formal letters, informal letters start with a polite greeting to the recipient. The standard format is the same: the word “Dear” followed by the person’s name, as in “Dear Mr. Lestrade,” using title capitalization.
However, informal letters provide more freedom when it comes to what you say in your greeting, and it’s not uncommon to see casual greetings like, “Hi [Name],” or “Hello [Name].”
As with salutations in formal letters, you normally end your greeting with a comma and then skip a line before beginning the body of the letter. Occasionally you see people end the salutation with an exclamation point, although it depends on their relationship with the recipient.
Step 3: Write the body of the letter
The body of the letter is where you write your message, and informal letters are often meant to share news or keep in touch. They tend to have a conversational tone, which means you’re free to include slang and whatever language you use when speaking in person.
While tangents are more permissible in informal letters, going off topic excessively can still bother the reader. Try to stay focused as best you can without sounding restrained—informal letters are supposed to be personal, after all.
Step 4: Write the complimentary close
Informal letters also use a complimentary close before the signature, following the same format as formal letters. That includes using sentence capitalization (capitalizing only the first letter), adding a comma at the end, and leaving enough space to sign your name if you’re sending a paper letter.
However, you don’t need to stick with the conventional sign-offs like “Sincerely.” If you’re writing a personal letter, you can use something more sentimental depending on the relationship with the recipient, such as “Love,” “Warm regards,” or “See you soon.”
Features
An informal letter is a type of letter writing that has a feature to enable you write in a friendly way to your receiver. Beside that, you can use multi languages, for example, your mother dialect while writing in English language.
An informal letter therefore has seven (7) features which are:
- Address of the sender.
- Date of writing a letter.
- Address of receiver.
- Salutation/Greeting.
- Body of the letter.
- Conclusion.
- Signature of the sender.
#1. Address of the sender
For any informal letter to complete, it must consist the address of the sender written at the top right hand of the page. It can be an address of your school, workshop, house, office, etc.
#2. Date of writing a letter
While writing an informal letter, remember to add the date to enable your receiver know the date you write it and also let him/her know the period he/she should reply to you if needed.
#3. Address of receiver
It is only a formal letter needs one address (that of the receiver). Whereas, in an informal letter, two addresses are needed. If you are writing an informal letter, your address should be written at the top right hand side of the letter slip, follow by the date, then the address of the recipient of your receiver.
#4. Salutation/Greeting
In an informal letter, there must be salutation or greeting immediately after the date and addresses. At this point, you can salute your receiver as ‘Hi there’, ‘Dear‘, etc. It is important to input the name of the receiver after any salutation of your choice, for example, Hi there Viccy, Dear Reuben, etc.
#5. Body of the letter
Body of the letter is the content that you will present in the letter, i.e, your conservation or the purpose of why you are writing it. In an informal letter, the body of your letter can be as large as you can.
In the body of an informal letter, you can discuss different discussions. After you have written what you want to write to your receiver, it is very important to remember to conclude it, if it is in exam, you will lose mark if you forget to conclude it. Please read the next paragraph for how to conclude an informal letter.
#6. Conclusion
Just like we have let you know earlier, in an informal letter, there must be conclusion of writing it. Conclusion in an informal letters include a phrases like “Yours truly,”, “Your friend,”, “All the best,”, Take care,”. You can also conclude it with ‘Cordially’, ‘Affectionately’, ‘Fondly’, ‘Yours devotedly and lovingly’.
#7. Signature of the sender
After you have written and concluded an informal letter with any of the phrases above, now, it is time to put down your signature beside your name. Your signature should be written at the left side after the conclusion with your names.
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