Hey Good Lookin': Making Your Letters Pretty

Advice about how to format business letters is surprisingly unvaried. This is perhaps because letter writing has been in use much longer than other forms of business writing, like blogs and email, and has therefore had more time to become standardized. As a result, there are only a few minor departures from the textbook in the sources I researched. My presentation outlines the formatting suggested by the textbook, but the advice from the following sources is also beneficial.

One of the top sources on my list for all writing advice is Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL). OWL suggests placing the writer’s address after the date, although most other sources have the date following the writer’s address. Another nitpicky difference is OWL’s distinction between “Modified Block” form and “Semi-Block” form. The book lumps both of these under the “Modified Block” category by stating that one may or may not indent the first line of the paragraphs.

One of the biggest variations I’ve seen in business letter formatting is what to include in the writer’s address. The textbook only includes the street address, city, state, and zip. Many other sources have the writer include his or her name and/or the company name. This seems to be primarily a matter of preference, and obviously won’t impact your letter’s professionalism in any way.

There are many sources on the Internet to help format your letters, but one of my favorites that I’ve found is UpWrite Press’s blog and video, which I’ve included below. UpWrite covers a number of writing topics in their blog.

I do want to touch on the use of formatting "wizards" such as the one in Microsoft Word. The templates in MS Word can be very useful and there are many different types available—from apologies to thank you letters. These templates even have the full body of the text completed for certain situations (e.g. "Apology for problem caused by another company." That's right, MS Word will help you pass the buck.) However, a basic knowledge of letter writing is still necessary despite this useful technology. Imagine an already angry customer’s ire at discovering the adjustment letter they were sent by your company is identical to the Microsoft Word apology template! Also, different situations require different formatting—particularly if you will be using company letterhead paper. So, feel free to use this helpful tool, but with caution.

UpWrite Press has created this very helpful video to assist you in your business letter endeavors.