What's an Email? The Art of Letter Writing

Some of us are old enough to remember when the only mail that existed was snail mail. But there was an art to letter writing. Let's bring it back!

Remember penmanship? Learning cursive (what's that, you say?) started around 3rd or 4th grade, if I remember correctly. You were in big trouble if you didn't take it seriously. All the women in my family are right-handed. All the men are left-handed. They did not have an easy time of it. Being lefthanded was frowned upon. Out of my three brothers, only one has readable handwriting. I can't say much for myself these days. My beautiful right-slanted handwriting has devolved into a caveman scrawl that only I can read, because of all the book notes I've taken over the years in my writing cave. Notebooks full. Now, if I wrote a letter without the use of my computer, it would likely be illegible, just like my brothers.

Enough about messy handwriting. Getting a letter in the mail was such a treat. Especially love letters. Keep in mind, folks: prior to the 80's, there were no cell phones, no computers. There was only mail or a landline. Talking on the phone long distance was expensive. Stamps were cheap.

If you wanted to impress a lady (or me), you had to be able to write a good letter: legible, interesting, romantic, but not too gushy. I was a minister's daughter, and would invariably meet boys that lived out of town. If a guy couldn't write a decent letter, I wouldn't have anything to do with him.  It was okay to quote a few lines from a song, but overdoing it showed a lack of originality. It's no wonder I'm a writer. A guy's ability to pen a good note was way more important to me than his muscle-flexing ability. I went for the intellectual guys.   It's kind of like that line from "Seven Days," by Sting.

"IQ is no issue here. We won't be playing Scrabble for her hand, I fear."  This is a song about a guy who has 7 days to win a woman's heart, and he's competing with a musclebound man for her affection. 

How many relationships were formed and deepened because of letter writing? Is emailing and texting the same? There were no emojis, only cartoons or drawing that you could show off if you were artistically inclined. There was something so exciting about waiting for a letter, the tactile pleasure of opening it, hiding away in your room so that you could eat up every word, stowing it away where no one could find it. And then you wrote back, thinking carefully about how you would answer their questions. A smart guy would ask you questions to show he was really interested in your answer. 

In my 2nd book, Heartbeat of the Moon, Ian, my 18th Century hero, had to go on a long journey. Maggie receives his letter and keeps it close to her, even when she's sleeping. 

"The urgency of singing you, possessing you with the words of my soul, grows with each step of the journey. Then, my heart plummets. I can never do you justice, for you are ever-changing like the moon. Oh, Maggie, look down upon me with your cool regard, rise above me with your passion, lie beside me so I might truly know you."

Smart man. Letters have power and the ability to keep a relationship alive despite the distance. Wouldn't it be fun to bring them back? You don't have to write a love letter. Write to a sibling, a child, maybe a friend you haven't kept in touch with. You could write a little note to your significant other. There's no need to be an author to pen something meaningful. You just have to mean it. Something like, "Feelings strong. Words difficult." Four words. 

I would love to hear from you letter writers out there. Do you have memories about writing letters? Did you take great pride in your penmanship? Ever get a Dear John (or Dear Joan) letter? 

I feel suddenly inspired to purchase some fancy paper and a special pen. They don't call us Pen Dames for nothing.