Art of the Handwritten Note A Guide to Reclaiming Civilized Communication

Good Reasons to Stop Making Excuses Writing by hand makes you look good on paper and feel good inside. Even an ordinary handwritten note is better than the best e-mail, and a good handwritten note on the right occasion is a work of art. It says to the reader, "You matter to me, I thought of you, I took trouble on your behalf, here's who I am, I've been thinking of you in the days since this was mailed, I want to share with you the textures and colors and images that I like." And that's just the unspoken messages, the pleasure anticipated before the reader even reads the words that the pen and paper have inspired you to choose. The reader can reread what you sent and save it and think good thoughts about you. A note can deliver all this for less than a dollar's worth of materials and ten minutes of your time. Now ask yourself, do you write enough of these notes? Do you write any? If not, why not? There's no excuse not to write a handwritten note; but many people who love to receive notes still let themselves get bogged down with excuses not to send them. Perhaps you'll recognize yourself in one of the ten major whines below; if you do, you can use the suggestions to inspire you to solve what's holding you back from writing the notes you'd like to send. Take a minute to tell yourself, honestly and in complete sentences, what keeps you from writing. Now read on, to see if your reasons turn out to sound just like everyone else's excuses. 1. "I'm too busy." It's not just the five minutes it takes to write, address, and stamp the note--the average telephone call takes longer than that, even without all the phone tag. You probably make time to do other nonessential activities like cooking for guests, sports, woodworking, watching television, instant messaging, Net surfing, needlework, reading, playing cards, decorative table-setting, social dancing, and gift wrapping. Anyone can find an hour once a week to write. You could write a couple of notes every day if you used the hours you stare at your computer screen and the minutes you spend on hold. Plan ahead to make time to write. 2. "Nobody writes notes anymore." People may not be writing as many routine notes as before, but for any special occasion a note is still the very best way to communicate. New technology doesn't always push out the old. People still draw when they could photograph, go to a play although a movie is available, go to movies when they could stay home and watch television, knit sweaters when they could buy them, bake cakes when they could purchase them, cook from scratch when they could order in, sing when they could turn on the radio. And they still write by hand. If you think people don't write notes anymore because they're not writing to you, just try writing a few notes to them. When they start to write back, you'll see why a note in the mail is such a special treat. 3. "My handwriting is terrible." Virtually everyone finds fault with their own handwriting, even professional calligraphers like the author of this book. (People often feel the same way when they hear a recording of their own voice.) First, your handwriting is probably not that bad once you've warmed up a bit. You're just out of practice because you don't write a lot every day. Second, your writing probably looks fine to the recipient because they're not as critical of it as you are. Third, people are so pleased to get a handwritten note, they will cut you a lot of slack when it comes to handwriting. They probably like your handwriting because they like you. Fourth, this book offers you a chapter on handwriting improvement techniques that will help you refine, repair, or rescue your script. 4. "I don't have the right kind of stationery." This is easier to fix than handwriting. One simple basic notepaper style will cover almost all your correspondence. And as with handwriting, if you have made a rShepherd, Margaret is the author of 'Art of the Handwritten Note A Guide to Reclaiming Civilized Communication', published 2002 under ISBN 9780767907453 and ISBN 0767907450.