Correspondence is a fine and noble act. Our Lord has written us many letters in His book, the Bible. Keeping a daily journal of even the simplest activities in your life will provide a handy reference for writing letters. Never feel that you have "nothing to write about," as the simplest things can make a great letter. People would rather have a letter than not, so even a short letter is important. I have a friend in Texas who writes what she fixed for dinner and what she did at home that day. Nothing is too small or insignificant for her to write about, even the weather, or something she was listening to, or the fact that a friend dropped by, and so forth.
My daughter, whom I posessively call "My Lily", has written to a friend since they were 10 and 12 years old. Both girls were living far away from society on farms, and had no close friendships outside of their families. Both had expressed how lonely they were at times, and so their letter exchanges opened a wonderful avenue of expression for them. When Lily first started writing, she didn't know what to say, so I suggested she ask open-ended questions, not yes-or-no questions, so that her friend would have to answer at length. Subject discussions were books, sewing, and fashion design. They would sketch little designs to each other and staple little fabric swatches to the letters. They planned whole wardrobes and sent them to each other. They shared menus, book reviews and house plans with each other. They both liked to look at those little house plan sketches that were included in the earlier Victoria magazines. I believe they even exchanged ideas about weddings and babies. Between the two of them they have exchanged several hundred letters. Here are the first two letters they ever wrote to each other (including all the grammatical mistakes!), to give you a taste of what a fun correspondence was launched:
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Now isn't that a delightful beginning?
After this first letter, the "girl who cut the cake" became a
life-long friend who was the maid of honor at Lillibeth's wedding.
My Lily writes of ordinary life: a riddle she heard, a meal she planned, a dress she sewed, a person she met, a scene she saw, a conversation she heard. One day just last year, as a special treat, she wrote a very long letter to her friend. When Rebecca's grandmother heard about it, she said, "I want you to read to me everything that Lillibeth writes, from now on!" Yet, the things she writes are ordinary, in an extraordinary way. Who among us would not rather get ordinary letters than none at all? Rmember that famous authors really only wrote about "ordinary" things. Jane Austen, as you may recall, got most of her stories simply by listening to parlor conversations in her own home. She rarely left her home, and even refused many invitations to go out, yet from these conversations and her simple life at home came the novels we all love so much.
Fill Your Letters with Life
Do you think your life is too dull to give you the material you need to write a letter? Consider L.M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott, who wrote about ordianry life at home. Anne's terrible mix-up with the cow, the awful mistake with the cake ingredients, and her longing for a dress with puffed sleeves became subjects in the story,Anne of Green Gables.
You don't have to do "great" things in order to write letters. A mere description of the weather can transport your recipient to another part of the world. If you have been reading about some other part of the world, clippings from travel brochures are a nice glued on to the letter. I like to make "Victorian Scrap" letters by cutting out and glueing things along the margins of the paper. You can include recipes, pressed flowers and other things in your letters.
Instead of the banal "How are you? I am fine," find a new way of asking the question so that your friend has a reason to write back at length: "Please write and tell me what you have done this week. Here's what I have been doing." Although it is best not to spread gloom around, occasionally it is fun to describe a disastrous formal dinner you attended or something in that light.
Every Letter Is a Gift
| I have a friend who sends me quilt patterns and also stickers. I also have a friend who has two daughters and is living quite a ways from any social life, so the two girls write to each other and place the letters in a special box. If you can afford it, you can "really" write to your little sister and let the postman deliver it in your mailbox. Often these younger children have nothing to look forward to regarding the mail, and this is such a blessing. I used to order little things from catologs for my children so that they would get packages in the mail.
Choose your stamps carefully, for they add to the mood of the letter. When you buy stamps and the postman says, "Does it matter what kind?" you say, "Yes, it does!" Letter writing requires spending time in quietness. Write for antiquity and for posterity--to be discovered by future generations who will eagerly read about the past. |  |
Don't Neglect the Proper Tools
If you have trouble getting interested in writing letters, choose the best equipment you can such as good pens and paper. If you are going to take the time to write, you might as well have good materials to write with. I am still looking for that ultimate writing pen that will enable me to write with ease and beauty. A special pen, pretty paper, a place to write, and writing soon becomes an event you will look forward to!
Save Letters for the Future
It is such a joy to receive a handwritten letter. I am sure people treasure them more than any other material gift. Letters have intrigued me ever since I was a little girl. I would "write letters" to my grandmothers, and put them in my father's coat pocket for him to "mail" when he went to work the next day. My mother had a little trunk upstairs, and when she showed me her little stack of letters from my Dad, tied in string, I was intrigued. She would open them and read them sometimes when we had to spend a long time isolated on the homestead in the log house in Alaska. From that time on, I knew that was what I wanted someday: letters from my fiance' tied in a string, kept in a trunk. It was my dream, as surely as it was a man's dream to be president someday.
A Letter Is a Symbol of Deep, Abiding Love
 by Francis C. Jones | Young girls today who ask me if I think it is okay for them to "live with" their fiance' before they are married, are met with my horrified reply, "No. Not only does it violate the holy scriptures, offend God and disappoints family, but it will rob you of something that you will one day think is very precious: the little bundle of 'love letters' tied in ribbon, to open and read and re-read, and to be discovered later by your descendent." Letter writing is part of the courtship process, and when I was very young, I was determined never to marry a man who was not thoughtful enough to write letters. It takes time and concentration to write a letter; it takes a special, caring person. Let me deviate here for a moment and give you a moral lecture. Young girls, live in such a way that you can talk about your youth as though it came from a story book. Don't make mistakes that will cause you to have to think of your past with shame. Live in such a way that you are proud to tell your children and grandchildren the story of your courtship and marriage. And, get those letters. |
Friendship letters are also precious and can be kept in special boxes. I recall a friend of mine who was upset that a close friend of hers was going overseas for awhile. I suggested they each keep week-to-week "journal" letters to send to each other. I have also seen "yearly letters" in which events are catologued month by month. My mother-in-law and her sister corresponded every week. Once when my mother-in-law sent only one page, and also missed a few weeks, her sister wrote back a lecture, saying that she wanted two pages at least, and she wanted to get a letter once a week. Letters you have received can be collected in a stack, and tied with a gorgeous wired ribbon gilded with gold or silver edging, and displayed on your desk or coffee table. They are evidence of your friendships. They show an appreciation for the hand written letter. A pretty arrangement can be had by placing this lovely bundle on an entry table alongside a candle, vase of flowers, photograph or guest book. If you have no letters, ask your mother or friends to write you some instead of phoning you, and begin your collection. As a mother, I like to write what I call "life letters" once in awhile to my grown children, telling them to always trust in God and to hold fast to the traditions and training in which they were nurtured. Other times they get silly letters full of lighthearted "nothings." This gives them a little stack of letters to show their own children.
Letters Lift the Lonely
I recall a WWII veteran telling of letters sent by young single women to the lonely servicemen overseas. He said that when the letters came they were in a large barrel, and the men usually tried to pick the letters with the best handwriting. Many a story has been told about men who kept such letters in their pockets, the folded edges worn to a frazzle from so much reading. I would encourage you to try your hand at "real handwriting" through a course such as Spencerian. If however, you are unable to do this, there are many beautiful fonts to choose from on computers these days, and you can print out and mail a typewritten letter. There are still many people who will never use e-mail, and letters are extremely important to them. Include in your time schedule a special moment to sit down and write these people a note of cheer.
| Types of Letters
There are different kinds of letters: friendly, business, letters to the editor, and more. I cannot stress enough how much of an impact are "opinion" or "political" letters. Such can often change the tide of public opinion when naive people are headed in the wrong direction. Good people, thinking they are being polite, will often refrain from writing such letters. Don't neglect these kind, too, since there are many opposite, erroneous opinions published by people who are not timid, which lead people astray. Let your voice be heard, and don't shrink away. You honestly don't know how much it helps conserve our Constitutional Government, and our nation's morality. My latest "interest" in letter writing has been to send letters of instruction and inspiration to teen girls and unmarried women, about their future. You can probably guess the things I tell them just by reading this article. I create a template of a dress, the size of my envelope, and trace sheets of paper to resemble a dress, on which I write. My "dresses" have become so popular, that people are beginning to ask me to send one of my dress letters to their daughters and friends. After the letter is completed, it is tied with a ribbon around the "waistline" of the dress. Colors of the dress are chosen to correspond with the recipient's coloring and taste. May I also recommend that letters be written early in the day so that your mind is fresh and alert, and not too late at night when discouragement or melancholy often sets in! |  A Vocation by William Bouguereau |
Writing letters is a sign of courtesy and it is also loving and sacrificial. It can have benefits to both yourself and those you write in untold ways.
