Letter writing "Charm School"...Let's begin!

Letter Writing Charm School...Let's Begin!

How To Write an Interesting Letter

Do you love to receive a "charming" letter?  The kind of letter that leaves you thirsting for more? I absolutely adore receiving these precious little jewels of shimmering wit, humor, and descriptive articulation of the daily mundane.  After I conclude one of theses artistic missives...I find myself rereading certain passages... giggling, or in  wide-eyed amazement, contemplating the excursion I have just  completed.  These letters seem to take the reader by the hand and lead you into a magical world.  The veil seems to be lifted and you enter  the author's world, for perhaps just a moment.  You may  witness  only  a brief scene...but somehow we connect in the humanity of the encounter.  These charming letter writers have taken the "ordinary", ho hum things of life, and transformed them  into the "extraordinary" with fresh, vibrant, observant eyes, ears, and noses! This is a letter to savor.   

But how to write  a charming letter...takes patience, diligence, and a willingness to learn how to artfully craft one of these treasures.  Honestly, I am the last person  that should be starting a " Letter Writing Charm School", because  I  fail miserably in painting beautiful pictures in my letters...but I yearn to have  the skill!  So, readers, please comment, send in your suggestions.  Let's learn together! If you have any articles to share...please share!  I learn best from example, so the following is a letter that I have used when teaching Letter Writing classes to young ladies.

Lesson # 1   How to write an interesting letter

The following letter is a sample letter that I have used when teaching Letter Writing to young ladies.  I feel it has a certain charm all to itself...let me know what you think.

My Dear Clarissa,

Do you remember what it was like as a child waking up to a world outside of sparkling , dazzling, white snow?  With ice crystals stamped upon the windows and icicles dangling from the window panes? The utter delight in racing out and being the first to make your imprint in the crunchy snow and flinging ourselves on the frigid terrain and flapping our arms in making snow angels?  It seems like such a distant memory now doesn't it?   Instead  I often find  the frozen precipitation  is just another nuisance to to trudge through!  But then I hear the infectious laughter ,the screams of delight from my children and then I realize the snow is not so odious.  But, perhaps you enjoy the snow far more than I?

I am writing to you  this afternoon from my room, still in my warm fleece, turquoise, monkey printed pajamas, yes, still in my jammies ,because living in a 1920's Virginia farmhouse is never completely warm  in these frigid temperatures.  I am sitting at my little writing desk, with your last letter pleasantly presenting itself before me.  The Proverbs 31 Woman framed cross stitch which you made me years ago is hanging above my desk.  I have managed to brew a steaming pot of my favorite Teavanna Tea in my Charles Dickens tea pot (my daughter, Stephanie, brought it back all the way from London on her Senior trip for me!). The tea pot embodies  scenes from David Copperfield --my favorite Dickens--beautifully painted upon all the surfaces. What flavor is the tea? Chocolate Mint. The steam is curling around, hovering above my mug.  The smell of the tea is tantalizing.  Yes, I am using the darling friendship mug you sent me for my birthday! And the perfect compliment to my chocolate mint tea is my secret  stash  of Double Chocolate Milano cookies...I have finally found the perfect hidey hole  for my stash...inside a bread crumb cylinder in my pantry...those munchkins of mine have not discovered  this most recent concealment...they are so clever at this game!  "Let's find mommy's stash!"  Ha, ha!!  I have finally outsmarted them for once!  The peace that spreads over me as I sip my tea and  munch on my cookie...makes me happy that winter has arrived.

I hear the children squealing with mirth outside my window, engaged in a rambunctious snow ball fight...they are hurling the frozen missiles at my window.  They howl with delight and then scramble in all directions!  They love to see me peer out my perch!  I tell them I will be down later...  As you can well imagine, the "mud room" has earned its name today!  They tramp in and out all day long leaving a muddy trail of melting snow mixed with dirt, muddied puddles abound!  I breathe a deep sigh...it can be cleaned up later.  Let them have their fun!  It is a celebration of  this wild, wonderful weather we seldom experience in Virginia!  And then there is no school--even for this home schooling family!  They are giddy with the prospect of more snow tonight and tomorrow!

My children have come to take me captive, out of my turret...I must don my woolen mittens, and snow gear and join them in a battle of  capture the flag in the snow!  They fear the snow will disappear before mom has ventured outside.  So out I go with this unruly troupe!  I shall pick up my pen again soon!

Farewell my dear friend,

Pamela