Dear Readers,
How are you? It’s been a while since I’ve written, so I wanted to take a minute to let you know I’m thinking about you. I’ve been meaning to write, but you know how that goes. Things happen. Life gets in the way. But I decided to reconnect with you this week because it’s Universal Letter Writing Week. That seems like a perfect time to get back into writing!
Universal Letter Writing Week celebrates the lost art of communicating with others through letters. People used to use pen and paper to write letters to friends and relatives. Some people even used fancy stationery, calligraphy, and custom envelopes for their letters. While some still do that today, the most common way to communicate these days is through text message, email, or direct message.
Make Someone Feel Special
It’s always a great feeling to open the mailbox (or inbox) and discover a card or letter from a friend. Maybe it’s a special occasion like a birthday, or maybe it’s just to say hi. How about those letters you get around the holidays from friends and relatives that catch you up on all the happenings within their family? Those are great too. Something other than junk mail or bills or spam messages. Something that shows you matter to other people.
Take a few moments this week to write a letter to someone and let them know you’re thinking about them. And while this week is focused on letter writing, I’d like you to focus on the individual letters you use to form the words that compose your letter. The letters strung together to create words. Think carefully about the words you use in your letters or notes to friends, relatives, colleagues, and anyone else. Why?
Because words matter.
I’m an advocate of keeping a dictionary and thesaurus handy while writing to help choose the right words and find alternate words to express ideas. Don’t have a physical dictionary or thesaurus? No biggie. There are plenty of free resources online. My go-to is merriam-webster.com.
Looking Forward
There are some exciting things in the works from Write Ambitions for 2021. If you’re looking for guidance on word usage, need help starting…and finishing your book, or are looking to improve your writing and editing skills, you’ll want to stick around this year.
For now, draft a letter to someone and let them know you’re thinking of them. Use resources to help you choose the words that will reflect how you’re feeling. And remember that words matter, so choose wisely.
Talk soon,
Jenny