In the 21st century, receiving friendly letters is something of a miracle. After watching a black and white movie or visiting your grandmother, you may have a sudden urge to write a letter. When you find out if post offices still exist in your city, you will start to wonder how to write a letter to a friend correctly.
Fortunately for you, the internet can solve any problem. On our website, we have many useful guides on how to write letters. Below, you will find one of our guides dedicated to friendly letters. We also have examples that will simplify your writing process.
What is a friendly letter?
A friendly letter is an informal message that aims to share news, feelings, and thoughts with your friends in a somewhat old-fashioned way. Today, texting and social media have replaced personal letters. But there is no romance or warmth in short printed messages. We hope that our guide on how to write a letter to a friend will help you surprise any recipient and smile.
What is the structure of a friendly letter?
A friendly letter should contain a greeting, the main paragraphs (news from you and questions to your friend) and a closing. This type of letter is personal, so you can write it any way you want. However, we will be happy to share some recommendations that will improve your menu.
There are 5 essential parts that friendly cards must have. These parts provide a suitable structure to the letters, making them easy to read and perceive without much effort:
- Title : The title of the friendly letter includes the sender’s address and the date.
- Address : The return address should be located at the top of the page in the center or in the upper right corner. It is not necessary to include the address in casual friendly letters.
- Date – Should be located under the sender’s address on the left side of the page or in the upper right corner above the salutation. Skip a line between the date and the greeting.
- Greeting : The greeting is a phrase used to start a letter. This is a courteous gesture, and shows respect for the recipient. The greeting usually begins with a hello. Depending on the usage in your country, you can use a comma, exclamation mark (to show emotions), or nothing after the person’s name. The salutation should be located under the heading on the left side of the page.
- Body : the body is the main part of the letter. It contains the information or message that is being communicated in your letter. It is written in the form of a paragraph.
- Closing : closing friendly letters includes gestures of respect and gratitude. In closing, the first word is capitalized and a comma is placed after the last word. (Scoring practice may vary from country to country.) It goes above the signature or name. When you finish writing your letter, end with a closing, such as: sincerely, sincerely yours, your love, greetings, your friend, a cordial greeting, thank you, sincerely, very sincerely, all the best wishes, among others
- Signature : the signature comes below the closure. Sign your name after a few spaces. If you have your name printed, sign above the line that contains your written name. It must be written in black or blue ink.
How do you write a friendly letter?
If you don’t have a lot of experience writing friendly letters, our tips will be extremely helpful to you. We will teach you how to start a letter to a friend correctly, what phrases to use and what topics to avoid. Don’t be afraid to write letters! They can make someone’s day unforgettable.
1. Begin the letter with a greeting
Before writing, think about what kind of relationship you have with the person you are writing to. If you want to write a letter in a formal style, it will be good to start with “Dear.” This word will be appropriate for your close friend and for a person you just met.
If you are writing to a best friend in a casual style, you can start the letter with “Hello,” or whatever word is common between you. If you write to a person with whom you have intimate relationships, you can write “My love”, “Sweet”, among others.
2. Explain yourself
Receiving a letter is a great surprise. First of all, mention why you wrote the letter. Perhaps a current event has reminded you of this person, or you simply miss an old friend. If you write to someone you don’t know well, you can mention how you met.
3. Start with a question
The first paragraph of a friendly letter is usually pleasant and warm. There are different ways to start it. You can start with questions about the person you are writing to or about the last time you met. Asking questions upfront is the best way to show your interest in the person and turn your letter into a mutual conversation.
4. Share news
You can write about what is happening in your life. Share an interesting story that happened to you lately. Tell what emotions you have felt, what plans you have. Try to describe your life realistically, but don’t add too much information about your troubles or misfortunes.
5. Make it interesting
Start topics that are interesting to both you and the person you are writing to. You can write your thoughts on the things that interest you or on any topic you want to discuss. Share interesting information: it is always welcome in personal letters. Tell him about a book you’ve read or a new place you’ve been; Recommend something you like.
6. Ask more questions
If you want to receive a reply letter, you must show your interest in the person’s life. You can ask questions about family, work, or vacations. If you have mutual friends, ask if they’ve heard of them recently.
7. Write the last paragraph
Send the person your best wishes in the last paragraph. End the letter with positive feelings. The last sentences should create the overall feel of the entire letter. Encourage your friend to answer you or make a call. This will show your desire to hear from the person soon and will make a logical ending to the letter.
8. Choose a suitable closure
The closing is the final part of the letter. Choose the appropriate words according to your relationship. The formal endings are “Sincerely”, “My best wishes”, among others; the casual style endings are “See you soon”, “Take care”, among others; and the intimate endings are “Much love”, “Thinking of you”, among others.
9. Add a PS section
You can add a postscript, or PS, to the end of the letter after your signature. Usually this is the information you want to tell, but it is not as important to present it in the main paragraph. It also works if you forgot an important aspect in the main body, but do not want to rewrite all the text.
Now, you even know how to finish the friendly letters and how to make them interesting. Still, we want you to make it perfect! For this reason, we give you another helpful checklist on how not to write a letter to your friend. Avoid these mistakes and you will get your writing to perfection easily!
Common mistakes
You should avoid the following mistakes in your writing:
- Don’t introduce yourself : not everyone has a perfect memory A person can remember your face and even the color of your eyes, but forgets your name. Therefore, if you are not sure if your recipient remembers you well, give them some details about you.
- Bad punctuation : We know that commas can be tricky. Your friend is not your teacher, but he or she can still notice your mistakes. They won’t blame you. However, you want to sound smart, right?
- Numerous complaints : your friend is not your personal psychologist, is he? You can share some sad news, but try not to focus on it. However, don’t hide any crucial news if it really matters.
- Too wordy : a friendly letter is not a novel. Limit your writing to 2-3 pages, and your friend will be grateful for saving them time. Also, use shorter sentences if possible to increase the readability of your letter.
- Do not sign : Although a letter to a friend is not a formal writing, there is still some kind of etiquette that you must follow. A closing phrase and signature are essential aspects of any letter, so don’t forget about them. In personal letters, you can use informal goodbyes, such as “Missing you”, “High five”, among others.
- Do not correct : When you write friendly letters, you do not intend to get a higher score. However, it does not mean that you can neglect the grammar rules . As we mentioned earlier, receiving a letter is a big surprise nowadays. Try to make it perfect for your friend!
- Formal writing style : Before you start writing, try to remember your last conversation with the recipient. We doubt they communicate as two gentlemen from the 18th century. Friendly letters have nothing to do with business or academic assignments. Your writing language should sound natural and sincere.
- Have no paragraph divisions – A friendly letter is not academic writing, but it should still be legible. For your recipient’s convenience, start a separate paragraph for each new topic. For example, in the first paragraph, you can explain why you decided to write a letter. In the next paragraph, share some news, among others.
Types of friendly letters
- Friendly letters from a distance : this type of letter is made when we want to convey our feelings to a very special friend with whom we cannot maintain physical contact.
- Anonymous friendly letters : can be used to start a friendship with someone. Sometimes they are used when there is an attraction for a person, and you want to start a friendship with an aspiration for something more. They are ideal for playing secret friend.
- Kid Friendly Letters : These are letters that carry very sincere feelings. Children sometimes use them when their shyness does not allow them to approach other children.
- Christian friendly letters : they have messages of friendship based on the bible. They are used when we want to attract friends to the ways of God in a discreet way and without pressure.
- Funny friendly letters : they are widely used by colleagues from college or some extracurricular activity. Men tend to use them more to convey feelings of friendship through jokes.
- Friendly letters for best friends : they are letters that carry very deep feelings, since the best friends most of the time are loved as brothers.
- Friendly letters for strangers : these are generally used to instill confidence in people we do not know yet but who will be part of our business core.
- Friendly letters for a love : these are letters that are written to show our partner that despite having taken a step further, that great bond of friendship still exists.
- Christmas friendly letters : are those that are made in order to show our loved ones that they are present in our minds in a very special way in one of the best times of the year “Christmas”.
- Friendly letters for February 14 : used on the day of love and friendship, to convey thoughts of love and appreciation to all friends.
- Heartfelt Friendly Letters : These are letters that carry messages that unsettle the heart. Many times we have friends who have gone far away, gotten married or have become part of other nuclei and we do not stop missing them. In these cases, a letter of this type is very timely.
Examples and templates of friendly letters
Here is a example of friendly letters that you can download in Word format:
Our guide is complete now. We are sure that you’ve got enough information on how to write an informal letter to a friend and can compose an impressive piece of personal writing.
