The Lost Art of Letter Writing
- Mandy Crow
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
When was the last time you sat down and wrote a letter?
Not a text or an email, a letter.
Sent a card recently or jotted off a note of encouragement to a friend?
If you're like me, it may be a little difficult to remember the last time you actually put pen to paper, then dropped that missive in the mail.
But as I was preparing for our upcoming Bookery Book Club episode on our March book club selection, Virginia Evans' The Correspondent, I ran across a TedX Talk from Peyton Christensen. Then a senior at Grand Canyon University, Peyton chose to give her talk on letter writing.
You can watch it here.
Peyton was gracious enough to join me on the podcast to share a few of her insights about letter writing and why it's so valuable in a mostly digital world, so I hope you'll give it a listen when it comes out on March 26.
But, if you're ready to write a send a few letters, Peyton offered a tips to help you get started.
Look for opportunities to send a card or note, any holiday from Valentine's Day and Christmas to National Cookie Day can be the perfect reason to send a note to a friend or relative.
Make letter writing a habit. Peyton keeps a list of letter recipients, which include children she's nannied, relatives, friends and coworkers past and present. While she admits it takes a little effort to build a letter-writing habit, Peyton says it becomes easier when you do it regularly. She suggests adding it to your weekly or monthly to-do lists.
You don't have to write a three-page essay. You aren't Jane Austen writing long notes to her sister, Cassandra. Rather than starting with longer letters, Peyton suggests starting with sticky note encouragements, lunch box notes to children or a short note or card to a friend.
Exercise creativity. Peyton sees letter-writing as chance to be creative. Find fun stationery and decorate it with stickers, stamps or glitter pens. Try out wax seals or watercolors. Peyton suggested exploring your local craft store and seeing markers, paper or other items call forth your inner artist.
Want to learn more about Peyton and her tips for letter-writing? Listen to the Bookery Podcast! Our first Bookery Book Club episode, focused on The Correspondent, releases on March 26.
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