You may think that the practice of letter writing serves no purpose in the modern age, given our dependence on email and instant messaging. The reality however is that this aspect of writing is very much having a comeback. Popular TV and political writer Roger Wolfson spoke about this in a recent interview, and was encouraging more people to get into the habit of writing letters to their friends and loved ones.
If this sounds a little absurd to you, here is exactly why in fact, you are going to love this approach to writing and communicating.
Personal Touch
There is no doubt about the fact that because you have put pen to paper and written this letter using your own time and your own efforts, that there is a much more personal touch to this kinds of communicating. It is one thing to sit down and type out an email but it is quite another to actually go to the trouble of buying materials to write with and then scribing a personal letter to your loved one. This very much comes across when people read those letters.
Surprise of Delivery
Opening up your computer or phone and seeing that you have a message from someone is nice, but it is nothing novel in today’s modern age. If however you were to receive an envelope in the post which has your name handwritten on it, this is something to really get excited about. The beauty of getting this kind of letter is that you honestly never know when something is coming through the door, even if you have had regular exchanges with the person who is writing to you. This is definitely one of the best things about letter writing and it is something which you and your penpal is going to absolutely love.
Learning to Write Again
One thing which Roger mentioned in that interview was the importance of writing again, something which he does even now when he writes scripts. If you ask yourself honestly, how much worse has your writing become since you have been using digital mediums to communicate with people? We could all do with a little help when it comes to writing and if you start to write letters between you and your friends or loved ones, you will find that your writing ability gets better by the day.
Holding Dear
Digital messages may very well be stored on a system somewhere, but you are not able to keep them in a drawer or have a physical copy of them which you can read back on at a later date. This is very much something which letters allow you to do and they serve as lovely mementos for the future. Letters can be kept and enjoyed more than once, and you can hold letters from loved ones forever.
Why not give it a try with some of your family and friends? Sit down, write a letter with your thoughts and your news, and see if you get a reply.
