The Best Writing Advice Ever Received

Time for my second trip to the post office.

Oh, wait! I didn't have to drive to the post office to mail these letters.

It wasn't raining this time, and I had stocked up on stamps during February prep month, so I could mail my next eight notes and letters from the cute little mailbox next to my front door.

How handy is this?!

Lest you think that I'm encouraging you to make a long list of names and scribble off as many notes as you can to win some sort of a letter-writing prize, be assured that this is neither my personal goal nor my hopes for you my reader.

My son-in-law Wes sent me the link to an article by Donald Miller called The Best Writing Advice I've Ever Received. Donald Miller is an author, and he was actually talking about writing for publication, but what he said is totally applicable to writing letters. When he summed up the best writing advice he had ever received, it included only three words: Love your reader.

Love your reader.

That's what letter-writing is all about.

Garrison Keillor writes (as only he can): "Such a sweet gift--a piece of handmade writing, in an envelope that is not a bill, sitting in our friend's path when she trudges home from a long day spent among wahoos and savages, a day our words will help repair. They don't need to be immortal, just sincere."

Love your reader. With just pen, paper, & a stamp.

 My eight-year-old granddaughter just spent the weekend with me, and she spent a morning writing letters with such pleasure. She put one in a plastic baggie, surrounded it with colored shreds, and hand delivered her gift of love to her aunt; the others she stood on tiptoe and put in the mailbox next to our front door for the mailman to carry away. I have absolute confidence that the three recipients of those letters--with  Karis' name in the return address--will be filled with delight when they receive their unexpected gifts in the mail.

Love your reader.

With just pen, paper, & a stamp.