Rekindling the Art of Letter Writing

My new course Rekindling the Art of Letter Writing is available just in time for Valentine's Day.

We live in an era in which instantaneous communication rules our lives. We have email, social media, text messages, phone calls, and more to keep in touch with friends and family.

These are convenient tools of communication, but how much time and thought do we put into the messages we send with them?

From my experiences, the lightning fast communication tools leave little room for reflection or introspection. That’s where the personal letter comes in.

When we write a personal letter, the writing process allows us to slow down and ruminate over the relationships we cherish.

It allows us to think deeply and carefully about what we write to the recipient. Much like a thoughtful gift, a well written personal letter can also be like an extension of one’s personality.

At its core, this is a course about writing great prose. Here is what you will learn:

1. Basic tips for developing a writer's tone;

2. An introduction to modified block letter writing format;

3. Tips for writing great prose including descriptive writing that evokes the five senses;

4. The importance of vivid word choice;

5. How to vary sentence structure to create an engaging rhythm in your writing;

6. An overview of four types of personal letter: a letter of gratitude or appreciation, a letter of advice, a love letter, and a letter to the future.

These are skills that of course will transfer to other forms of writing. By the end of this course, you should feel comfortable and confident writing long form correspondence. 

Please consider enrolling in Rekindling the Art of the Personal Letter today!

• Introducing the Course
• About our Course Project
• Modified Block Letter Format & Talk about the Writer's Tone
• Descriptive Writing: Engaging the Five Senses & Avoiding Purple Prose
• Descriptive Writing: Discussing Vivid Word Choice, Metaphor, Simile & Personification
• Sentence Structure: On How to Tighten up Writing & Creating Rhythm in Writing
• Discussing the Letter of Gratitude/Appreciation & the Letter of Advice
• Discussing the Love Letter & the Letter to the Future
• A Quick Review & Thank You!