Writing Love Letters

This article appears in the Mar/April 2007 edition of the Love 'n' Kisses 'Kissing Booth'

Have you ever wanted to write your partner a love letter, but didn’t know where to start? Here are a few pointers from Love 'n' Kisses you might find useful:

1. Use your opening to really catch your partner’s attention. Tell a short story, or ask a question. “Remember when we spent the weekend at the snow? I do. It made me really think about all the reasons…”
2. People are usually turned off when they read fancy-sounding words or clichés. Try using conversational words. Write as if you’re talking to the person. If you wouldn’t say it, don’t write it!
3. Use contractions freely. It makes you sound friendly and conversational. (Try “we’ve”, “we’ll”, and “I’ve” instead of “we have”, “we will” and “I have”.)
4. People prefer short sentences. So try not to be too flowery!
5. Only include positive things.
6. Pick suitable stationery. Don’t reduce the value of your carefully chosen words by putting them on shoddy paper!
7. Don’t say. Show. Give an example of the things you really love about your partner. Don’t just say ‘I love you’. Tell them why – it holds so much more meaning.
8. Hand-write your letter.
9. Don’t worry if it doesn’t come out great the first time. Many, many people write letters
several times, just to get it perfect.
10. People remember the last thing they read first. So try to keep the most important thing you want to say until last.