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Letter Writing

Question- Give the importance of letter writing. What are the types of letters? What are the qualities of a good letter?

Ans-

Importance of Letter Writing It is quite natural for a social animal like man to have a desire to mix up with his friends and relatives or at least to disclose his heart to them and to pry into their hearts through letters if they are not with them. The invention of the alphabets and the art of writing have helped humanity to satisfy this desire The progress of international relations and the close contact of humanity has taken place of the isolation with the introduction of swifter means of communications and the consequent rapid growth of economic relations have resulted in most of the people being away from home on business; and so it is no wonder if the letter writing, which was considered only an art before, has now become a necessity. It is through letters that we communicate many of our secrets or domestic or personal affairs or give descriptions or carry on business or apply for something.

Classification of Letters

We may roughly divide letters as under -

1. Personal Letters- Friendly, private or intimate letters including letters to friends relatives and acquaintances, social letters, including invitations and acknowledgements.

2. Business Letters - Correspondence between business firm and customers.

3. Official Letters - Applications, complaints, letters to editors.

Qualities of a Good Letter

1. Clearness - The wordings of the letter must be clear and simple so as to convey the ideas of the writer clearly. Cowper, who was an excellent letter writer, wrote to his cousin, "when I read your letters, I hear you talk. In writing a letter, the writer is speaking with the pen; so a letter must not be affected or forced in expression, it should be direct, natural, clear and simple as if one were conversing with a friend. Difficult words, twisted and showy expressions, must be avoided.

2. Sincerity - A good letter should be sincere. A sincere letter is a charming piece of composition. The writer should communicate his feelings without any veil. If a letter is not sincere, it will lose its value.

3. Humour - A good letter should be written in pleasant and humorous style. It should not be only a string of facts. The style of a good letter should be pleasing and attractive, but not showy.

4. Courtesy - A letter should be polite so that it may impress and attract the person addressed instead of annoying him.

5. Effectiveness - A letter should be so worded as to be forceful and convincing. Your letter has to play the part of your magnetic personality and your persuasive tongue in your absence; so it should be effective.

6. Completeness - A letter should be complete; it should not be blank at any point. It should not leave out facts, details or reasoning; otherwise the reader would not understand fully what the writer means, and the purpose of the letter will be frustrated.

7. Conciseness - Completeness does not mean that a letter should be lengthy. Brevity is the mother of wit. Economy in words is the keynote of twentieth century. A letter should be thorough but concise.

8. Neatness - A letter should be quite neat. It should be nicely written or typed. There must be no scribbling, erasing, striking off or over-writing. There should be a regular margin and proper spacing. The letter should be nicely folded and placed in an envelope of a proper size.

Some Examples of Applications / Formal Letter

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