Ten Letters You Will Read and Write – yes, You!

Dear Reader,

Picture the last time you wrote a letter. Seeing dust? Let me help. It was probably a birthday card, and if you’re like me, you also chose to whack five dollars off the birthday gift to make up for the insane $4.99 you spent on the card. As you paid for the card, you spent exactly five minutes thinking about how you could have written a better card for free. But you didn’t. You signed it, licked it, mailed it and forgot about it. You may have gotten a thank you letter in return. You probably didn’t.

If you feel like letter-writing is a waste of time, don’t worry. You’re not alone. But think about it. You are not alone in believing that letter writing is a lost art. You are not alone in believing that an abbreviated tweet, a status or a disjointed email that ends up in spam will make more of a difference in your life than writing out a well-thought letter. You should worry.

According to John R. Erickson in World Magazine, “[Texting] tends to discourage the development of rich, extended thought, and it’s a poor substitute for the composition of letters.”

Ask yourself these questions.

Could there still be a time in your life when writing a letter is the most important thing you will ever do? Could letter writing still be interesting and passionate enough to make a difference?  Could writing letters actually improve your writing?

Erickson goes on to say, “I’m inclined to think that the honesty and simplicity of the letter-voice brings us closer to “good writing” than a voice that is trying to impress an editor we’ve never met.”

I think it’s logical to look at letter writing as something that could change your life.

I don’t think you can avoid letter writing. I will argue that you will encounter all of the following type’s of letters in your life.

1. Cover letters. Plan on getting a job?

2. Dear John Letters. Don’t tell me you never thought about breaking up by mail. Or did she break up with you this way? Ouch, but so romantic.

3. Letters to your Senator. Right now when you hear an announcer on the radio encouraging you to write a letter to your Senator, you think he’s talking to someone else, right?

4. Customer Service Complaint Letters. Believe it or not, this will get you a corporate response, or in my case a $4 voucher for my disappointing cream cheese experience.

5. Letters you will regret. Been there. Always sleep on those angry letters before hitting send. Please, literally sleep on top of the letter and hopefully it will get lost while you’re thrashing in your sleep.

6. Letters to the Editor. This is not a luxury reserved for journalists. You, the layman, the citizen, the average Joe can write a letter to the editor of a newspaper in response to an article.

7. Love letters. Classic. Guys, she will want at least one in her lifetime.

8. Letters to a soldier. There is little more powerful and beautiful than giving encouragement to a soldier who is putting his life on the line for you. These letters are the poetry of sacrifice; a stranger who may die for a stranger who might write.

9. Thank you letters. Believe it or not, some of the best thank you letters don’t say the word “thank you” in them.

10. Letters back home. Don’t dismiss it. Writing well-developed letters may spare you that weekly phone call from your parents and can be a valuable way to connect with that rich great-aunt.

Confused about the proper format? Keep reading my blog for crazy letter-writing examples and responses you won’t believe.

Sincerely,

Andrea