” To write a letter is a good way to go somewhere, without moving anything but your heart.”

-Phyllis Grissim- Theroux

Regarding the long history of human civilization and its wake of realization for communication, we have been sending and receiving letters for years.

However, with society shifting more towards electronic means, the practice of traditional letter writing is slowly staying out of the norm and a majority of the population may not know, ” There are various types of letter or at the very least what a letter is.”

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Nevertheless, one can never overlook the art and exquisiteness of perfect letter writing and its impact on the readers, making it an integral part of communication. In this one, we will be trying to emphasize and comprehend the overall aspect of letter writing more concisely.

How do we define a letter?

In simple terms, a letter can be defined as a mode of communication between two people or a group that can either be handwritten or mechanically printed.
But, it is less preferred in modern society due to the invasion of various technologies and the sophistication they have brought along. Hence, only formal and official communications are preferably done these days through this medium with the thought of making them bonafide.

For instance: University correspondence, Appointment letters, Bank reminders and sanctions et cetera.

Importance of letter:

Letter writing could probably be the best practice to process our thoughts and present our ideas in a paper. In this techno-savvy era, it still is keeping the creative side of mankind into existence and that’s a major aspect of looking into its importance. Breaking down its other importances could be as follows :

Official means of communication:

As most of the official and administrative work procedures are still performed via written means, writing a letter has a huge role in these official and clerical matters. Due to the nature of the practice, the process of communication remains more formal and authentic.

Filing and documentation:

Because all the correspondences are in a written format, it strongly can be preserved, documented, or filed for future references. With its proper management of archiving, the required information can be swiftly obtained whenever one needs it as a guideline.

Legal evidence:

One of the major importance of letter writing is that it always acts as a source of legal evidence during the time of disputes. By documenting and filing, the purpose is not only to hold the record of activities but to come up with a great source of reference when needed. Any types of letter, if documented properly can be used as a lega evidence.

Establishes the writing skill:

Not a great fact but the art of letter writing is in mere existence these days by this utter dominance of swift and user-friendly technics. However, some do still believe in the traditional practice of writing as it really cultivates the culture of writing and strengthens the language skill of the practitioner.

Students and Scholars:

Letter writing could be a great practice to develop various social and communicative skills for the students. And, writing a letter of course enhances their writing credibility and handwriting as well. In this time, when students are much into technical know-how, letter-writing could come as a great exercise to help them improve their artistic and creative side of intelligence.

Classy and Creative:

As is known, we invest so much personal thought in it when we write so it remains eternally classic for many with our creative and emotional expressions enriched in it.

Types Of Letter:

There are various types of letter but to name a few, we have compiled some of the most common in use, here.

Formal:

Formal letters, one of the first types of letter, are more strict and professional in nature and follow a certain format. It’s more subject-oriented, precise, and informative. letters like government, official, and business fall under this category and are much authorized. It is an important part of ceremonious writing and a major mode of communication in any organization hence certain protocols are always there to follow while writing a formal letter.

Informal:

Informal letters are the types of letter that can be defined as letters to our friends, families, or even colleagues where one doesn’t need to remain stick to a certain pattern. It is more expressive and was a popular means of communication back in the day. These letters are also a great source of history and may bear emotional attaches.

These definitions are perfectly justified by the quotation of John Donne when he says,'' More than kisses, letters mingle souls.''

Business:

This actually is a correspondence between the business enterprises which may be to enquire about the goods, services, cost, payment or for the logistic procedures, etc. In other words, it can be well defined as formal communication between two or more people under a professional roof. Though it falls under another types of letter i.e. formal letter, the contents may vary depending on the purposive requirement of your letter.

Employment:

Letters for the specific purpose of appointing an employee comes in this category, such as job appointment letters. In this types of letter basically, the confirmation of his/her job is mentioned including the salary, post, list of duties, rules and regulations of an employer company, various provisions regarding the increment, bonus, promotional schemes, etc.

One of the major aspects of this types of letter is that it works as a verification of your mortgage qualification verifying your position and income within the particular organization.

Official:

Another types of letter incudes official letters. These are strictly formal and performed for the sole purpose of providing information related to different occurrences, events, actions, rules, and regulations, or procedural requirements. These types of letter are generally circulated among the branches or departments and their employees but at times it holds a great responsibility to make aware the public of various things like a notice

To sum up

Even though letter writing has been massively dominated by the use of modern communicating tools, one can never undermine its importance. Be it formal, informal, business, or any other letters, once you determine your relationship with the recipient then staying in certain formats can certainly help you in successfully writing your letter and to convey your thoughts effectively.

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