A good letter is one the reader understands at the first reading and acts on. That is true of a complaint to a company, a cover letter for a job, a thank-you note to a friend or the first letter a child writes to a grandparent. Good Letter Writing is a free guide to all of them: how each kind of letter is laid out, what goes in each paragraph, which words to use and which to leave out, and the templates and worked examples you can copy and adapt.
Everything here is free to read and use. We do not write letters for you and we do not sell a service; the site exists so that you can write the letter yourself and get it right first time. Start with the guide that matches your letter, or begin with the general step-by-step guide if you are not sure where it fits.
Start here
If you have never written a letter before, or it has been a while, How to Write a Letter takes you through the whole process in seven steps: deciding what you want to say, putting the right details at the top, choosing a greeting, writing the opening, the body and the closing paragraph, and signing off. It applies to every kind of letter and points you to the specific guide when the details differ.
The three kinds of letter
Formal letters
A formal letter goes to someone you do not know personally, or to an organisation: a complaint, an enquiry, a request, a letter to a council, a landlord, a school or a solicitor. The layout is fixed and the reader expects it. Formal Letter Format shows the standard UK layout with an annotated example, explains the greeting and sign-off rules that trip most people up, and covers the three common purposes of a formal letter.
Personal letters
A personal letter is written to someone you know: thanks, congratulations, an apology, an invitation, condolences, or simply news. The rules relax but they do not vanish, and a handwritten letter still carries a weight that a message cannot. Personal Letters covers the layout, the tone and the small conventions, with an example to follow.
Cover letters
A cover letter goes with your CV and explains why you fit this job at this employer. It is the piece of writing most likely to be read in under a minute, so it has to be sharp. Cover Letters explains the four-paragraph structure, the difference between an application letter and a speculative one, and the mistakes that get letters binned. CV Templates gives you two free UK CV layouts, standard and skills-led, and advice on what to put in each section.
Free templates
Each template is a plain-text layout with notes in square brackets. Copy it into your word processor, replace the brackets with your own details and delete the notes. They are free; there is nothing to buy or sign up to.
- Business Letter Template: the standard formal layout for any letter to a company or organisation.
- Complaint Letter Template: the same layout with the wording of a complaint filled in, plus what to ask for and how to follow up.
- Cover Letter Template: the four paragraphs of a job application letter with example wording for each.
- Personal Letter Template: where the address, date, greeting and sign-off go in a letter to someone you know.
- CV Templates: two UK CV layouts, the standard CV and the skills-led CV, with advice section by section.
Worked examples
Templates show you where things go; examples show you what they sound like. Letter Writing Examples has four complete formal letters, two complaints, a request for a tax refund and an appeal against a parking charge, each followed by notes on why it is laid out and worded the way it is. Read the example nearest to your own letter before you start, and again after you have written a draft.
Getting the words right
Layout gets a letter read; the words decide whether it works. Three short guides deal with the mechanics that most often let a good letter down.
- Writing Conventions: greetings and sign-offs, titles, dates, paragraphs, tone and the habits to avoid in written English.
- Spelling Rules in English: the rules that catch most people out, UK and US spellings, and the words most often misspelt in letters and applications.
- Punctuation Rules in English: full stops, commas, apostrophes, colons, semicolons and quotation marks, and when each one earns its place.
If your letter has to persuade rather than inform, a sales letter, a fundraising appeal, an advert or a web page, Copywriting introduces the craft of writing words that move people to act, with plain rules and examples.
Letters for children
Children who write letters learn to organise their thoughts, to think about a reader and to finish a piece of work. Letter Writing for Kids gives parents and teachers a simple layout a child can follow and six activities, from a first letter of their own to story letters, that make the practice feel like play.
How to use the site
- Pick the guide that matches your letter and read it once through. Each one is a few minutes’ reading.
- Open the matching template and fill in your details. Keep the notes in brackets until the last draft so you do not forget a part.
- Compare your draft with the nearest worked example. Check the greeting and the sign-off match, the first sentence says why you are writing and the last paragraph says what you want to happen.
- Run the spelling and punctuation guides over anything you are unsure of, then read the whole letter aloud once before you send it.
About this site
Every guide on Good Letter Writing was rewritten in 2026 for current usage: the greetings, titles and sign-offs that are normal today, and email and online applications alongside post. The About page says what the site is for and how it is paid for, the Privacy Policy says what little the site collects, and if you spot a mistake or want a guide that is not here, the Contact page has a form.