What makes a penpal letter good?

There is no one-size-fits all method to writing a good letter. You may not get it right first time, but then may be able to learn from your mistakes, and from letters received.

First and foremost, the letter needs to be legible, be it handwritten or typed/printed. Cursive writing feels more natural to me and although I can read many styles, I received a very neatly written letter in a style I found difficult to read. I also find block/printed handwritten letters harder on my eyes. However, some people may find block easier to read.

Your penpal may live in a different country, and they may have a different custom for writing the date. Is it DD/MM/YY, MM/DD/YY or other combination? To avoid confusion, write out the month. 1st February or February 1st, doesn't matter but at least it won't be confused with January 2nd.

For the first letter, some people write a CV-type letter, as if applying for the position of your penpal. An introductory letter detailing family members and hobbies, occupation and place of origin. Personally, I don't like this style as to me, as it can come across as all one-sided, but there can be some good introductory letters in this style.
Others write as they mean to carry on, telling little life stories and experiences, mixing the recent with the long since past, in a style to be continued in subsequent letters along with responses to the missive received, introduce themselves over the course of the correspondence. Perhaps imagine you already know the person and are already friends. Even friends tell each other new things, and when faced with leaving messages on telephone answering machines still introduce themselves by name (or perhaps, "It's me!" as I have done before).

Some questions can be good, but you do not want the letter to feel like an interrogation. A good letter should be a long distance conversation between two people.

Replies to letters should include acknowledgement to what has been written to you. You don't have to respond to every paragraph, point, or topic covered, but there should be some comment of the letter received other than, "Thank you for your last letter..."

Overall, letters should show your genuine interest in your penpals. In letters, you could share little pieces of yourself, stories, anecdotes, even everyday things.


For ideas on the first letter, have a look at these two starts to a first letter I made up. The fictional person is the same in both. See which style you prefer to write/receive.


Hello,
My name is Michelle and I am 35 years of age. My birthday is 3rd May. I was born in Birmingham in the Midlands of England and am the youngest of 3. I have two older brothers, Brian who is a mechanic, and Simon is an IT consultant. Simon is married to Rebecca and I have one sweet niece, Jessica, who is 3. I went to university in Manchester and studied art & design and education. Now I am a teacher in a secondary school in Salford. I have been married for 5 years, to Harrison and he's a teacher too. We first met at a school I was doing my placement at as a trainee teacher. We have no children yet. We do have 3 tabby cats Felix, Boris and Johnson.
When I am not teaching, I like to bake cakes & biscuits. I like music, classical and jazz, and I can play both genres on the piano. Harrison plays jazz clarinet. I paint landscapes and do urban sketching.


Hello,
Greetings from across the ocean. Did you know that your Birmingham Alabama skyline was used in a leaflet produced by the council in Birmingham, England instead of its own? National radio here interviewed your mayor and he made more sense than the politicians here! That's all I'll say on politics. I'm from Birmingham in England and have thus far in my 35 years never had the opportunity to visit the one in Alabama. Have you ever visited Birmingham, England? Or anywhere in England, come to that?. I no longer live in Birmingham having moved away to study at university.
I get called Miss, most of the day but then I'm a teacher. My colleagues out of earshot of the pupils call me Michelle. I married another teacher, but he teaches at another school. I love my job most of the time, but the amount of homework to mark is astonishing. All I want to do is curl up with a nice cuppa and write a letter or read a book. Sometimes I like to bake cakes and biscuits and I do so for the school fairs. I occasionally relax at the piano, or listen to someone else play.