Write a letter and send it special delivery
Help keep the art of letter writing from becoming extinct. Write a letter today!
Come on. You know how much joy this small effort can bring to your mother, your auntie, or your girlfriend. Wouldn’t you be delighted to find a hand-written note, a buried treasure, in all that junk mail?
Would you like some inspiration? For the Love of Letters, by Samara O’Shea, is worth reading from cover to cover, and then rereading for specific examples. O’Shea begins with how to write a love letter, with advice, tips, and examples. The sample letters, from famous and not-so-famous authors, range from eloquent to steamy. John Keats professes his undying love whilst he is dying. James Joyce’s love letters to Nora Barnacle, even after five years and two children, burn with passion and desire. You’ll also read letters from Beethoven, Poe, and others.
O’Shea continues with encouragement, specifics on how to get started, and fantastic examples for any and every sort of letter you can imagine ever wanting or needing to write. These include:
- Dear John, breakup letters
- Thank yous
- Apologies
- Condolences
- Appeals requesting change (amnesty, animal rights, go green ….)
- Business letters
- Recommendations,
- and more
I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it. — Mark Twain
I saw Gloria Steinem speak years ago, and what did she advise? Write letters! As busy as she was, she was writing at least five a day. The written word in this format carries a lot of weight.
More
- For more advice on how to make your voice count, writing letters to newspapers, businesses, legislators, and others, read Peta’s “Guide to Letter Writing“.
- Need a warmup practice? Try this: Write a Letter to Granny.
- Now go write that letter to someone special.
