Write a Letter

• TASK: Write and send a letter via the postal system in order to show someone you care.
• CONDITIONS: Given a pen, a piece of paper, an envelope, a stamp, and the address of a person to whom you can send a letter.
• STANDARD: You must be able to write a letter, place it in the envelope, address and stamp the envelope, and send the letter.

​The ease and convenience of the internet and email have rendered letter writing almost a lost art. In comparison to sending an email, physically writing and sending a letter takes a lot of effort.

You have to get a pen, a piece of paper, an envelope, and a stamp. Then you have to sit down and write out your letter. You actually have to think through what you want to say to the person before you write it because if you make any mistakes, you can’t just delete the text, you have to either cross it out or start over again. Then you have to put the letter in the envelope and address, stamp, and mail it.

Given the additional effort that is incurred by handwriting a letter, simply receiving a handwritten letter from someone tells the receiver that the sender cares enough about them to go through the trouble of writing and sending a letter.

Writing the Letter
A letter can take many forms and have many purposes. Generally speaking, your letter should have three main parts: a greeting, a body, and a closing.

Greeting
Begin by identifying the person to whom you are writing. Opening with “Dear John,” or just the person’s name is an appropriate way to start your letter. I like to write the person’s name on the first line of the letter and start my greeting on the next line.

After identifying the person, the next thing to do is to say hello and review any past correspondence that you’ve had with the person. Give updates on anything that you and the receiver had previously discussed. Respond to any questions that the person has up front as a way to show respect for the other person’s interests.

Body
Start new topics of discussion or communicate the purpose of your letter. If you’re simply providing an update about what’s going on in your life, this is the place to write it down. You can also include any questions you have for the receiver here.

Closing
Wrap up any loose ends and express your desire to see or hear back from the person. If there are any particular topics that you want to hear about from the other person, the closing is a good place to make that clear. It’s also a good idea to write about the next time that you and the receiver will physically see each other again.

The final part of the letter is your salutation. Some common ways of signing off include “Sincerely,” or “Yours truly,” followed by your name. Your particular sign off should reflect your personality and your relationship with the receiver.

Sending the Letter
Great, now you’ve written your letter, it’s time to send it. There are a few steps you have to do before you can drop it in the mail and send it on it’s way.

Put the Letter in the Envelope
Most envelopes require that you fold the letter in thirds in order for it to fit properly. Don’t worry too much about getting the folds precisely in thirds, the important part is that the letter fits inside the envelope. However, the more precision with which you fold the letter will communicate the level of care that you have for it.

Once the letter is in the envelope, you need to seal it. Most envelopes come with either a sticker or a moisture-activated glue that will let you seal the letter. If your envelope uses the moisture-activated glue, you can lick it or run a slightly damp rag over the glue to close it. If you choose to lick it, be sure to avoid licking along the edge of the envelope so that you don’t get a paper cut on your tongue.

Address the Envelope
To send a letter, you need to write the receiver’s physical address on the envelope so that the postal system knows how to route it. Addresses in the United States have a simple standard format:

Person’s Name
Street Address or PO Box
City, State
ZIP Code

Stamp the Envelope
The stamp is how you show that you’ve paid for the work that the postal system is going to have to perform to get your letter from you to the receiver. There are a lot of ways to buy stamps and the price is always going up. Check with the postal service to learn how much it costs to send a letter to the receiver. Generally speaking, if you’re sending a one-page letter to someone in your same state, a single basic stamp will do the trick.

An alternative to buying stamps is to simply take the letter to the post office and mail it directly from there. You’ll have to stand in line, but you’ll be guaranteed to get the exactly right amount of postage for your letter.

Send the Letter
If you chose to stamp your letter rather than stand in line at the post office, you now need to send it. To do this, you can either drop the letter into a post box if there is one nearby, or you can put it in your mailbox and leave the flag up to let the mailman know that you are sending a letter.