The Letter

• 1). Choose a piece of paper that will fit neatly inside an envelope.
  
  
• 2). Start your letter with a salutation, which is your way of greeting the recipient. The salutation needs to appear near the top of your paper, on the left-hand side. Depending on who you are writing the letter to will determine your salutation. For example, if you are writing to a friend, you would begin your letter with: "Dear Jane," This would be followed by a comma. If you writing to a business associate you would write a salutation like "To Mr. Smith." This would be followed by a colon.
  
  
• 3). Include the date on the upper right-hand side of the page, paralleling your salutation.
  
  
• 4). Skip a line and indent a few spaces to begin the body of your letter. This is where you write whatever message you would like to get across to the recipient. Use complete sentences and indent for every new paragraph that you use.
  
  
• 5). Conclude with a complimentary close, which is how you say goodbye to the recipient. Skip a line from the last sentence of your body of the letter and start the close about two-thirds to the right of the letter. For informal letters the close can be worded with "Love," "Thank You," "Your Son," etc. End the close with a comma and sign your name directly below it. For a business or more impersonal letter use "Sincerely" as the closing line, followed by a comma and then your name under it. For a business letter you may also want to line your closing up with your opening, so that they are both on the left hand side of the page.
  
  
• 6). Fold the letter neatly and place it in the envelope.
  
  

The Envelope

• 1). Write your address in the top left-hand corner of the envelope. Write your name as the top line, your street address under your name and your city, state, zip code and even your country directly below the second line. You will end up with three lines.
  
  
• 2). Write the recipient's address in the center of the envelope. Write out the recipient's address in the same manner in which you wrote yours in. If you are sending the letter to an international address, refer to the International addressweb site in the Resources section for a list of the proper format for each country.
  
  
• 3). Place a stamp on the upper right-hand corner of your envelope and make sure the back of it is sealed.
  
  
• 4). Calculate postage depending on weight, size of the envelope and if you are sending it internationally. Use the United States Post Office Postage Price Calculator in the Resources section to figure out how much postage you should put on the envelope.
  
  
• 5). Put the envelope into any United States Post Office box if you are sending within the United States. Visit your local post office if you are sending a letter internationally.