Lily Snyder

I’m halfway through my letter writing challenge. So far, I have written about 40 letters. At about 2 pages per letter, that’s 80 pages. Looking at the math, I am doing ok. I have about 80 pages left to write. I have 6 more days to write. That comes out to about 6 letters a day.

I have written to family, old friends, and some old colleagues. It’s been a great experience writing because I have heard from people who I haven’t spoken with in recent months. I don’t blame them at all. Communication is a two-way street and it’s easy getting caught up in the day-to-day things than keep up with people.

What I’ve learned so far from the challenge

• Writing letters are about starting a conversation. Written letters are personal. You can’t write one generic message and copy 10 different people on it like an email. What makes letters work are when they tie a personal link to the person the letter is addressed too.
• Letting people know that you really care about them. A hand-written letter is deliberate. What is written with the stroke of a pen can’t be taken back as easily as pressing the backspace key.
• Coming up with things to write isn’t difficult if you’re open about what’s going on in your life. However, it’s important to be open without sharing too many intimate details.
• New people will keep popping up that you can write too. When I posted my challenge on Facebook people asked me to write to them who I wouldn’t have thought to otherwise. But I’m glad I did!

The bonuses of writing letters

• I had a nice text conversation with one of my friends.
• I received a long email from my cousin.
• I got a phone call from my sister-in-law.
• I got a nice card back from my husband’s grandmother.

As one of my aunts said, “it’s all about a cool, easy flowing and good gripped pen. Pen shopping is the best!” It really is.