Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
How to Write a Love Letter
Roses are red
Violets are blue
You love me
And I love you too
Was that what you came up with for Valentine’s Day last year?
Your face is red
The air has turned blue
That poem is not
The best you can do.
Valentine’s Day is almost here again. You might have planned to buy another card someone else wrote and another bunch of flowers someone else grew, and another heart shaped box of chocolates someone else made, but that’s what you do every year, and you’re yawning already. This year you want to do something a little more unique and heartfelt and thoughtful. You want try a little harder, sweat a little more and reach a little higher.
When every website ad and television commercial is screaming, “buy something expensive, sparkling, fattening,” you know that, although it’s a nice gesture, it probably won’t be memorable or personal or exceptional. You know that nothing you pick up at the mall on your lunch hour really says “I love you.” You want to take a leap, and put some real effort into your gift this year.
You want to write a love letter. (Trust me, you really do.) There is nothing that will last longer or be treasured more than the words of love you commit to paper. But you can’t write, you say. You don’t know what to say or where to start and you really can’t spell, you whine. It doesn’t matter. Follow these simple directions, and even you can write a beautiful love letter. It isn’t painless, but it is possible. (And, as an added bonus, it doesn’t have to be a gift for Valentine’s Day – this is a gift you can give any day of the year.)
First, don’t worry about style or spelling or grammar at all. You’re not “writing” yet. You’re just going to make lists. Easy. Anybody can make a list. It’s a very effective tool for jump starting your imagination. All you need is paper, pencil and a little bit of time to concentrate.
Think of the person you love. Use all of your senses and imagine this person standing in front of you. Write down every single word or phrase that comes to mind – anything goes – you can edit later. Confident, impish, waiflike, always thinking, twisted, funny (Remember, use your own words – they’ll be better and truer than mine and use details, including eye color, skin texture, unguarded reactions, etc.) Write it all down, leaving nothing out.
Next, what makes your significant other unique? Special? Loveable? Cure? Funny? Unforgettable? Her sock puppet collection? The way he really wants to know the answer when he asks you a question? That she’ll watch football with you without complaining? The way he washes your hair? The things she does for your mother? A special favor he once did for your friend? There are a million things that make this special person unlike anyone else in the world. Add every one of them to your list.
Your third list will be special memories and special moments – not just the best vacation, or your wedding day, or the day you met (include those too) but the time you got lost and ran out of gas out in the middle of nowhere or the most fun you ever had at the grocery store together. What is your favorite place to be with each other? Where is your favorite place to go? Your favorite thing to do together? List it. Include any (and as many) details that you can think of.
Finally, describe this person you can’t imagine living without: Imagine that you’re talking to someone who’s never met him/her. Why is this person your favorite person in the world? What does she look like first thing in the morning? What does he do when he’s happy? How does this person make you feel about yourself? How? Why? Write it down.
Now comes the easy part. All you have to do is put just some of this information together coherently. Choose your favorite story (or his favorite story) and write it using all the details from your lists. All these things you’ve listed should trigger your memory and your imagination and provide all you need for your love letter. Writing the story, including the details, and remembering the little things is your love letter. Perfect spelling doesn’t matter. Grammatical mistakes and punctuation errors won’t be noticeable (unless your S/O is an English professor). Just speak from the heart, and reveal your true feelings. (Remember, you’re going to have more material than you can use so you’ll have to leave some things out; but you can save them for your next letter).
We are our stories, and that’s especially true for couples; the private moments, the silly jokes that only the two of you understand, the way you finish each other’s sentences or make a suggestion just as they were thinking of it – those are the threads that hold the two of you together and remember them in writing is one of the most loving things you can ever do for someone. Remember the stories your parents and grandparents told you about your childhood? Everyone loves stories about themselves – especially when they’re told from the perspective of someone who loves them. Thing you remember (what they were wearing, the expression on their face, funny or poignant things they said) repeated back to them in writing is a love letter – it lasts forever, and it will mean more than an expensive, shiny bauble ever could.
(If you’re still having trouble writing, editing or organizing your lover letter, more help is available at http://www.writers4rent.com/ (see the February special) or by emailing writers@writers4rent.com.
Violets are blue
You love me
And I love you too
Was that what you came up with for Valentine’s Day last year?
Your face is red
The air has turned blue
That poem is not
The best you can do.
Valentine’s Day is almost here again. You might have planned to buy another card someone else wrote and another bunch of flowers someone else grew, and another heart shaped box of chocolates someone else made, but that’s what you do every year, and you’re yawning already. This year you want to do something a little more unique and heartfelt and thoughtful. You want try a little harder, sweat a little more and reach a little higher.
When every website ad and television commercial is screaming, “buy something expensive, sparkling, fattening,” you know that, although it’s a nice gesture, it probably won’t be memorable or personal or exceptional. You know that nothing you pick up at the mall on your lunch hour really says “I love you.” You want to take a leap, and put some real effort into your gift this year.
You want to write a love letter. (Trust me, you really do.) There is nothing that will last longer or be treasured more than the words of love you commit to paper. But you can’t write, you say. You don’t know what to say or where to start and you really can’t spell, you whine. It doesn’t matter. Follow these simple directions, and even you can write a beautiful love letter. It isn’t painless, but it is possible. (And, as an added bonus, it doesn’t have to be a gift for Valentine’s Day – this is a gift you can give any day of the year.)
First, don’t worry about style or spelling or grammar at all. You’re not “writing” yet. You’re just going to make lists. Easy. Anybody can make a list. It’s a very effective tool for jump starting your imagination. All you need is paper, pencil and a little bit of time to concentrate.
Think of the person you love. Use all of your senses and imagine this person standing in front of you. Write down every single word or phrase that comes to mind – anything goes – you can edit later. Confident, impish, waiflike, always thinking, twisted, funny (Remember, use your own words – they’ll be better and truer than mine and use details, including eye color, skin texture, unguarded reactions, etc.) Write it all down, leaving nothing out.
Next, what makes your significant other unique? Special? Loveable? Cure? Funny? Unforgettable? Her sock puppet collection? The way he really wants to know the answer when he asks you a question? That she’ll watch football with you without complaining? The way he washes your hair? The things she does for your mother? A special favor he once did for your friend? There are a million things that make this special person unlike anyone else in the world. Add every one of them to your list.
Your third list will be special memories and special moments – not just the best vacation, or your wedding day, or the day you met (include those too) but the time you got lost and ran out of gas out in the middle of nowhere or the most fun you ever had at the grocery store together. What is your favorite place to be with each other? Where is your favorite place to go? Your favorite thing to do together? List it. Include any (and as many) details that you can think of.
Finally, describe this person you can’t imagine living without: Imagine that you’re talking to someone who’s never met him/her. Why is this person your favorite person in the world? What does she look like first thing in the morning? What does he do when he’s happy? How does this person make you feel about yourself? How? Why? Write it down.
Now comes the easy part. All you have to do is put just some of this information together coherently. Choose your favorite story (or his favorite story) and write it using all the details from your lists. All these things you’ve listed should trigger your memory and your imagination and provide all you need for your love letter. Writing the story, including the details, and remembering the little things is your love letter. Perfect spelling doesn’t matter. Grammatical mistakes and punctuation errors won’t be noticeable (unless your S/O is an English professor). Just speak from the heart, and reveal your true feelings. (Remember, you’re going to have more material than you can use so you’ll have to leave some things out; but you can save them for your next letter).
We are our stories, and that’s especially true for couples; the private moments, the silly jokes that only the two of you understand, the way you finish each other’s sentences or make a suggestion just as they were thinking of it – those are the threads that hold the two of you together and remember them in writing is one of the most loving things you can ever do for someone. Remember the stories your parents and grandparents told you about your childhood? Everyone loves stories about themselves – especially when they’re told from the perspective of someone who loves them. Thing you remember (what they were wearing, the expression on their face, funny or poignant things they said) repeated back to them in writing is a love letter – it lasts forever, and it will mean more than an expensive, shiny bauble ever could.
(If you’re still having trouble writing, editing or organizing your lover letter, more help is available at http://www.writers4rent.com/ (see the February special) or by emailing writers@writers4rent.com.
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