Let’s Take Advantage of National Letter Writing Week!
Did you know that the second week of January is National Letter Writing Week in the United States? Yes, there is actually a week designated to letter writing, a week when people of all ages are encouraged to sit down and hand write and mail a letter to a friend or loved one. Thanks to the negative influence of the Internet, not only have people substituted emails and texts for handwritten letters, they have also lost the critical skills of cursive writing and staying focused on a task that is not screen based. That makes my little, literary heart hurt. Even worse, statistics show that 14 percent of the United States population has never written a letter. Fourteen percent! clutches pearls
Why Writers Should Write Letters
Even though I’m a luddite at heart, and I hate to hear about the dying art of anything having to do with taking pen to paper, I’m not here to resurrect letter writing for all Americans. I just want to share the idea of writing a letter as an excellent creative writing exercise that kills two birds with one stone, or rather, it feeds two birds with the same croissant. Letter writing can be used to enhance your writing skills and it brings joy and happiness to the recipient who gets the letter. It’s a Win-Win for everyone.
How to Use Letter Writing to Improve Your Creative Writing
Here are some ways to use letter writing as a creative writing exercise. Try one or more than one. Write one letter or five.
Resurrecting Memories: Write a letter to a good friend from childhood or college and remind them about that time you…use the letter writing to fall back into memory. Try to remember everything about that special day and time. What did the air smell like? What were you wearing? What was your friend saying to you at the time? Your goal is to get the recipient of the letter to read the letter, and then feel compelled to pick up the phone and call you right away, laughing or crying because you took them back in time. (This is a great exercise to do if you’re contemplating writing a memoir.)
Get In Touch with Your Writer’s Voice: A lot of writers struggle with finding their “voice” on the page. Without thinking about it, just sit down and write a letter to a friend. Catch them up about your holidays, or tell them about a recent show you’ve been watching or a book you read. Just have a conversation on the page. When you’re done writing, read the letter back to yourself. That’s your writer’s voice. Keep writing letters until you feel truly connected and in control of that voice.
Practice Other Voices: Fiction writers this is for you. Write a letter to a child or an elder, and write in a way that you think they will appreciate and understand. Don’t play dumb for the child, and don’t get too formal for the elder. Find the sweet spot, the voice that will resonate for your letter recipient. Advanced letters, you can also try to write in another language.
Just For Fun: All writing shouldn’t be done for a publishable goal. If you identify as a writer, you should always be writing, but sometimes the writing should just be for fun. To exercise your writing muscles. To play with words. Instead of journaling, for example, you can write a letter to a friend, a family member, or even to a stranger. A prison inmate or a new pen pal. Enjoy the act of writing. Enjoy the dance with your words. Recognize that your words can impact someone else’s life. Know that what you write can bring light into someone else’s life. Use colored pencils, markers or crayons. Buy some stickers and affix them to the envelope. Send that letter awash in joy.
National Letter Writing Week Was Made for Writers
So, National Letter Writing Week runs January 8 - 14th in 2023. It’s technically an American holiday, but obviously, you can be anywhere in the world and still write a letter. Postcards count too. And for what it’s worth, I love the idea of receiving letters from all points on the globe. So, don’t limit yourself, friends. Write to all the far-flung places in the world where you have friends and family. Enjoy the entire process of writing, picking out a gorgeous stamp, and dropping your letter in the mailbox. You may enjoy the experience so much, you might start writing letters on a regular basis. And that would certainly be better for your writing career than staying glued to social media. I’m just saying. Who knows, you may write enough letters, someone may collect them all one day and publish them in a book!
Here’s your assignment: During National Letter Writing Week, I want you to write and mail two letters using the prompts above. Tell me how it goes in the comments below!
Happy Writing!