The Lost Art of Letters

I havent received a hand-written letter in years. Besides a wedding invitation or short thank you note, the art of crafting written correspondence is about as popular as gold fountain pens. New methods of communication are available to us, but at what cost?

I remember passing an occasional note to a girlfriend in middle schoolnot a literary masterpiece, but a collection of words that formed sentences and paragraphs. Today, that same communication has been replaced by text messaging, replete with emoticons, successive exclamation points and code, e.g., LOL and BTW (laugh out loud and by the way, respectively). The efficiency of communication has improved at the expense of the quality. To appreciate how much things have changed, consider the use of letters by English author, Jane Austen.

Austen used letters in her novels as a way to provide back-story and advance the narrative. She expressed her characters feelings in carefully crafted missives that we rarely see today in real life or fiction. The telephone encroached upon the written letters popularity; the fax machine and the internet all but replaced it. Those same feelings are expressed today through Outlook Express, an auto-signature and a yellow happy face. Its always a pleasure to hear from family and friends, but a far cry from cursive handwriting on a letter enclosed with a few rose petals.

To appreciate the art of a hand-written letter, try writing one today. Its a mental exercise as much as jogging is physical: when you only do it annually, you wonder how you ever did it at all. Writing carries the same need for mental agility as a crossword puzzle or writing a taut poetry stanza. Practice and repetition are the only way to revive these dormant skills that reveal our own personal style. Moreover, our handwriting is as personal as a fingerprint, and as much a part of the writers soul as a painting is the offspring of the artist.

I am using one of todays wonders as I write this article: spell check. Because spell check auto-converts obvious mistakes, and alerts us of other mistakes with likely alternatives, we click the correct spelling without recognizing the spelling rule or pneumonic crutch that ensures we spell it correctly the next time. Youd be astounded at how many of todays new hires from top universities believe the word is min-iture and perogative, and not miniature, and prerogative. Spell check improves our image in front of potential clients, but Im afraid the days of writing a word five times so you dont forget have disappeared faster than typewriter ribbons and liquid paper. Hand-written letters demand that you have it in your head before it hits the page.

Decorate Your Correspondence

If you want your words for any occasion to resonate with your reader, take a few moments to ensure that your words are an accurate expression of thought and feeling, not a vague approximation. When you err on the side of convenience, your words lose much of the punch and rhythm that make them memorable. Mark Twain told his wife, Olivia, that she cannot see its intangible waves as they flow towards you, darling, but in these lines you will hear, as it were, the distant beating of the surf.

Twains words may not belong in a business memo, but consider how you can enhance your words in a persuasive presentation or written request. Where are the opportunities for clever analogies, metaphors or even another quote from Twain? Writing is both a science and an art, and todays modern science has stepped on the art of imaginative self-expression.

We live in a world of sight, sound and motion. Your cell phone is more entertaining than the Atari video game you got for Christmas back in the seventies. Your opportunity to distinguish yourself from other communicators, when writing or speaking, is to add a personal or memorable touch that makes you different. The smell of the rose lingers on your hand after youve presented it to another; similarly, people may forget your exact words, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Seize the opportunity to revive an old skill and as a sender, you will stir your receivers emotions.

To learn more about our Writing Workshops, please visit www.kenlodi.com.