How to write an Apology Letter

How to Write an Apology Letter

Writing an apology letter is something one should know as it has been said that ‘It is human to err’. Failure, errors, faults, blunders, regret etc. are some of the common names for mistakes and these can be overcome when you know how to write apology letter. The formats of an apology letter may differ but the core of the letter is the same. It is the content here more than the technicalities which matter and towards this effect apology letter writing tips, formats, templates and examples can become your aids in writing your written apology.

Apology Letter Writing Tips

How to start an Apology Letter?

Apology letter can be started simply by admitting your mistake by writing that you have done wrong. It can simply be ‘I am so sorry’. Be precise and state the facts as they are. You can use certain quotes to begin your letter if straight admittance in the first line sounds blunt or unsuitable to you. You are the better judge of your won apology so use these quotes wisely and not all will sound good with all kinds of apologies.

Some lines to begin an apology letter

• I accept full responsibility for what happened and I sincerely apologise for that
• I own you an apology
• It is unfortunate that..........
• It is human to err
• It is regrettable that things came to such.............
• I know this was completely my fault
• I’m sorry I shouted/slapped/pushed/stole/
• I want to forgive and forget. But unless you forgive, I can’t forget!
• Nobody is perfect and I am no exception
• The hardest to say but the easiest to acknowledge is a five letter word – Sorry. I said it, will you acknowledge it?

Keep your facts clear – Being caught up in emotions during any instance is easy and coming out of the emotions is not easy either. Under such circumstances certain aspects of the incident get more imprinted than the others. Stating facts and stating exaggerated facts then become hard. So give yourself some time and think about what exactly happened and what exactly you need to do. It is easy to forget or recall about the things that might have happened actually and the way you perceived it. Analyse – How many people got offended? How many were indirectly affected by it? Do you owe apologies to all or few? Did you miss out something? Whatever they were, be sure to get everything fixed in your mind before starting to write. Recall the events and note it down excluding irrelevant instances, this will remove any confusion. Are you apologising for hurting someone's feelings? Or is it for the thing you did that caused those hurt feelings. You can discuss it with someone trustworthy who was present at the event, to get a fresh perspective or something that you may be missing. Think about it, was it truly your fault or someone else’s? Knowing clearly what happened may clear the unobserved facts for the reader and it may spare you the apology or whole of it. Taking the full blame on your head may not be the correct thing to do; this may depend on case to case basis. However you can apologise for an indirect cause example you became a part of the incident inadvertently.   

Keep it Short – Apology letter is all about apology, seeking forgiveness and its related events and only. Anything apart from this is useless and a waste of time. Dwelling too much on apology makes it long and it will appear superficial. There is no need to mention itsy-bitsy details of the events as the recipient may not want to recall the event in such detail. Use phrases that are direct and come to the point without any delay. Anything which is not directly related to the apology will only lessen the impact of the apology. Be simple and to the point. Keep in mind three things apologise, explain and rectify.

Simple apology is enough – Sometimes we go overboard whilst writing an apology letter. We make it more complex than it really was. We want the apology to be perfect in every way. The envelope, the language, vocabulary, the grammar, word limit etc. These are secondary when it comes to an apology letter. Few simple sentences of conveying your apology are enough. So don’t try to hard just apologise.

Easily understandable – Make your apology letter come across as convenient as it can possibly be. This can be done by using professional fonts and refraining from fancy fonts which are sometimes hard to read. Do not use long sentences and long paragraphs as it may become a daunting task for the reader. The use of ‘And’ often elongates the sentence and makes its meaning harder to understand, thus use not more than one ‘And’. Short sentences prompt the reader to read the whole letter as every sentence has an importance and the reader wouldn’t like to skip any sentence by reading between the lines. The more easily understandable the better it is for the acceptance of your apology. You don’t want to further irritate the reader with a letter whose apology is hard to come by or may undermine the authority of the reader subsequent of such writing.

Apology for the other’s sake – An apology is meant for the offended party and not because you feel guilty. Give priority to the other rather than writing just because you are guilty. Thinking this way increases the thought process in favour of the appropriateness of your apology letter. Otherwise your letter would be more about your guilt of the offence and lesser about the offended party’s feelings. This also increases the value of the offended as the offender considered about the welfare of the offended through gesture of apology. The apology letter is thus largely about the offended and less of the offender.

Apology with compensation – An apology with no compensation may give an impression that you are not truly sorry or that you are sorry but not willing enough to pay for it. After admitting the mistake the second step is to show that you are willing to rectify the mistake. This shows that you are a responsible person and take full responsibility for whatever happened. Not everybody can do that so take pride (within) that you had the guts to admit your mistake. Promise not to repeat your mistake. You can ask for another chance or opportunity to prove yourself. Depending upon the situation you have to figure out what you can do can do to help make things better. Do not forget to apologise in person as well.

Timing Matters – A timely apology is an important process of apology letter. By timely here, it is meant that the letter is written and delivered within 1-3 days or as earlier as possible depending on the seriousness of the matter. However, it is also important that you don’t apologise too soon i.e. to say the offended party is still angry and it may react in a harsh manner towards your apology. Same goes for the offending party, you may not be in a state of mind to write an appropriate apology. Having kept this in mind it is also important that your do not delay your apology to such a length of time where it becomes meaningless to write an apology or where it may arouse negative sentiments upon late realisation of apology on part of the sender or the remembrance of the incident itself on part of the reader. So decide yourself as per the situation and send it accordingly without too much haste or too much late.

Apologise Honestly – Whenever you do something with true heart it will always show. Same goes for your apology letter, be sure of every word you write because there is reaction to every action. A false statement can put you in trouble, when and how, you may never know? Using a false apology for the sake of getting past the current situation is by and large counterproductive. Using flowery language and dramatic phrases will surely come across the reader. Why to indulge in such when you can speak the truth without any prejudice. Moreover it will save you from self guilty consciousness of your false act.

Avoid detailing the cause or the incident – We all like to tell stories, sometimes we even exaggerate a few things, sometimes we may overemphasise certain things and sometimes we may overlook certain things. What happened was witnessed by many and there will be many tellers of the story to the offended. Your detailing of the event will then only be repetitive and will annoy the offended party even more. Even the offended party is witness to the incident so avoid going into details of the event or its cause. Imagine yourself as the offended and how would you react? Keep that in mind and present a positive conclusion by stating your actions. If there is some hidden aspect of the issue you can wait for few days and then discuss it with the relevant person. But for now, it is apology time.

Apology Letter Quotes – One can certainly use certain quotes but only 1 or 2 otherwise it will undermine your apology.

• A genuine sorry erases all the pains and makes you a better person in your own eye, and improve your social value.
• An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything - Lynn Johnston
• Any good apology has 3 parts: 1) I'm sorry 2) It's my fault 3) what can I do to make it right? Most people forget the third part.
• Apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift - Margaret Lee Runbeck
• It takes a great deal of character strength to apologize quickly out of one's heart rather than out of pity. A person must possess himself and have a deep sense of security in fundamental principles and values in order to genuinely apologize - Walt Whitman
• Making the first move to patch up things shouldn't always come from the one who made the mistake but it should come from the one who understands
• Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so you apologize for truth - Benjamin Disraeli
• People will accidently walk on our feet and apologize, but people will also walk all over our hearts and not even realize.
• Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past - Tryon Edwards
• Sometimes saying SORRY is the most difficult thing on earth but it’s the cheapest thing to save the Most Expensive gift called Relationship
• The ability of a person to atone has always been the most remarkable of human features - Leon Uris
• The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest

Apology Letter Formats

Business apology letter format

Personal apology letter format