Tips for Letter Writing

Hello everyone! Did you know that April is "National Card and Letter Writing Month"? I understand why it should be celebrated, for a whole month, no less! Letter writing is a dying art.

While rifling through my ever-growing paper stash, I found a leaflet with the heading, "Tips for Letter Writing", which I got from Paper Source. It has some good advice, I have to share them with you:

Express Yourself 

Hand write your letters, your penmanship, no matter how eccentric, is a piece of you. By hand writing your letters and notes, it gives the recipient something special.

Mementos

Enclose a photo your recipient might have forgotten about or has never seen, or perhaps a ticket stub from the play you saw together (special materials can be photocopied, rather than sending the original) or a leaf you picked up while walking with that person. Lining your envelope with gift-wrap from the present you are thanking them for is another favorite.

From the Heart

Write from the heart, tell a story, remind them of your history together, a favorite time. Share one thing about that person that you admire -- everyone loves and needs a compliment.

Coordinate with Style

Choose beautiful paper to write on and a pen you enjoy writing with. Embellish with ribbons, snaps, brads, glitter or hole punches -- the possibilities are endless. Coordinate your postage stamp with your envelope color or the theme of your letter. If you can draw, sketch or doodle, add something from yourself.

Write, Rewrite, Right!

Email has made it easy to jot down a few words, spell check and hit send. But when handwriting a special note, use a scratch pad and draft your letter first. Check spelling and grammar. Know what you are going to say and how you'd like to write it. Save your good stationery or handmade card until you have a clean draft to copy.

Don't let any of the above frighten you. The most inportant thing of all is to just do it.

I hope you found these tips useful. There are a few more here. Happy writing!