You’ve Got Snail Mail: Tips for Letter Writing Day

When I moved across the country for grad school, there were two people I was very afraid of losing touch with. They don’t have Facebook, so I can’t post on their wall. They don’t have cell phones, so I can’t text them. They don’t have email, and they don’t have iPads. Plus, they’re only seven and five years old, so they’re attention spans are such that they wouldn’t have the patience for those things anyway. An “I miss you!” Facebook message or “What’s up?” text wouldn’t warrant a response – my niece and nephew would rather be skateboarding or chasing each other around with water guns. That’s why, once a month, I write them each a good, old-fashioned snail mail letter.

How to Write a Good Snail Mail Letter

The most important thing about writing letters is knowing your audience. Since I’m writing to kids, I use notebook paper, stickers, and colored pens (and pencils!). If you’re writing to your grandmother, you should choose some nice stationery you know she’ll like – maybe something with flowers around the border or kittens playing at the bottom. Presentation is important. That includes your handwriting (and you should be writing letters by hand – typing is cheating!). Write slowly, carefully, and legibly – it shouldn’t look like a drunken monkey penned your letter during an earthquake.

As you probably guessed, content is important too. Write about what your reader wants to know, not whatever pops into your mind. My niece and nephew don’t care how I’m doing in school, but they like to read about the funny dogs I see at the dog park and what we’re going to do when I come to visit. In a similar vein, appropriate content is also important. You may be very excited about the party you went to and the cute guy or gal you met there, but your Uncle Moe still thinks of you as the little rugrat who only eats chicken nuggets when they’re shaped like dinosaurs. Tell him about the game you watched last week, and write your best friend about the party.

Unlike an email that is going to get deleted after reading, your recipients may want to hold onto your letter for years. With that in mind, don’t write a letter to your mom about what a terrible day you had. Keep the tone of your letter upbeat, and focus on the positive. Chances are, this will also have a positive effect on your outlook. Tell your mom about the good thing that happened at work today, or how the recipe she gave you was delicious. If work sucked and you burned ma’s special pot roast, then write about a book you enjoyed or a movie that made you laugh recently.

Last but not least, tell your recipient to write back! Ask them questions about how they’re doing, how that special project their working on is going, or if they’d rather be stuck on a deserted island with Oprah Winfrey or Elton John. Remember, letters can be silly. Ask them to send you pictures. Sure, you could check their Instagram, but the picture they took of a squirrel just for you is way more special. Whenever I write to my niece and nephew I ask them to send me drawings for my cubicle at work, and I’m proud to say I have the best-looking cube in the office.