Writing Tip
“I can help you in writing” — Yours Sincerely, Letters
Any class on English Writing Skills is incomplete without letter writing. We all had written formal/informal letters to our friends, teachers, to friends’ parents, our parents and cousins. These letter-writing exercises are extremely helpful in developing and assessing our abilities because they are simple in both form and content. Now, other than in English classes, we have not been writing letters much, despite its usefulness in connection and communication. But, it’s high time to bring the letters back! And specially, if you’re a beginner in creative writing, letters can be extremely helpful for you.
In this blog, we will deconstruct this practice and understand its myriad utility.
Let us first understand the history of letters
Since human societies learnt the importance of communication, letters have become almost indispensable. Throughout history, letters have been the most efficient means of communication between two comrades, two distraught lovers or as a strategic contact between two kingdoms. Even now, a lot of historians rely solely upon letters to reconstruct ages lost to time. As a result of which, letters have evolved as a very important metaphor in popular culture.
The most important contribution of letters is definitely in Literature. The form of the very first novels in Literature was epistolary i.e., they were a series of letters, bound together to form somewhat of a loose plot. The very first novels like “Pamela”, “Clarissa” etc. were all epistolary in form. This was in the 16th-17th century and this form of novel continues to be written even now. Of the top of the head, the most recent example can be “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” (1999).
Another very important aspect of letters was their importance for women. Due to social constructs, women weren’t allowed to make public appearances often and hence letters became a perfect way for them to maintain correspondence with their families, their peers and in some cases to start revolutionary movements.
With women learning to read and write, they felt the need to express their feelings and journal writing became a popular trend, especially in the 19th century. The journals were designed as letters often addressed to an imaginary recipient or to the diary itself. And this trend slowly seeped into the Literature of that period as a separate genre. Anne Bronte’s “The Tenant of the Wildfell Hall” and Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” are very popular examples in this regard. Hence, the influence is massive.
After tracing a brief history of letter-writing, we can conveniently conclude that letters are great enablers of expression, thus also creativity. Letter-writing isn’t a standalone and one-off activity, but it very well meets the need of creative writing, making it a good place to start with.
Why is letter writing significant as a way of creative writing
The very concept of writers writing can be aesthetically pleasing but the actual task can be sometimes far from it. So, we need tricks and tips up our sleeves to facilitate these processes. And this is where we will discuss how letter writing can address these problems, more specifically for beginners.
Expectations are different, hence, it need not be our best creative piece
When we sit down to write a letter, the main purpose is to communicate effectively and strike a correspondence. The aesthetics of such a composition demands legibility only, use of creative language becomes optional. Hence, the creative needs are relatively lesser and the writer can be a bit relaxed and focus only on clear communication.
We hit a jackpot of writing inspiration with letters
More often than not, our lives are the biggest source of inspiration while we write letters. Even when we write about the grand scheme of things, eventually the focus narrows down to its effects on our personal lives. So, it would be a rarity that the writer would fall short on inspiration. The subject of our letters can vary from minute details to very evident events of our lives — there can be no possible end to the list of what we can write about.
Letter helps us in overcoming writer’s block
Writer’s block can be defined as a kind of slag in creativity. It can be very frustrating for anybody. However, as we have discussed in the previous point, letter writing offers us with a lot of options to write about which in turn will help us to overcome a block easily.
Since it is understood to be a personal correspondence, so you can unapologetically be yourself
Letters are often written in confidence with the recipient. Even in epistolary novels, we see that the protagonists express their deepest feelings and ideas. This is because the intended audience of such compositions are very personal. So, it gives us the liberty to be expressive without being too selective. For the beginners, this can be very beneficial as they wouldn’t be required to rewrite a great deal or share them with everyone. They can literally learn to express their first thoughts. ( You can read up more about it on this link: https://link.medium.com/YdbgEP95tdb )
Letters are subjective, hence more scope for imagination
Letters are a subjective medium to establish correspondence, so it is not a hard and fast rule to write all facts. The writer is at liberty to describe a world based on her/his perception. Now, there can be no definite limits and brackets when you do that, so you can let your imagination loose. Take the chance to be creative, innovative and invent your writing. This can be a very useful exercise for the beginners to hone their imagination and gives confidence to explore into it.
You can talk to any person in the world. It is art and expression in its true form
If you’ve watched the movie, Lunch Box (2013), or even if you’re remotely aware about it, you will know that the movie is about two pen-friends connecting with each other through letters. The movie led the viewers into the lives of two strangers freely expressing their concerns with one another. What more can the art of expression expect than an unhindered flow of emotions across cartographic obstacles! And letters can obviously help us to keep this spirit of expression alive.
The self reflective tone of the letter format can be cathartic
Writing, for a lot of people, serves as a cathartic medium of art. It helps a lot of us in the process of purgation of our deepest feelings. And letters are the best medium for such a process. Being self reflective in their tone, we get to analyse, introspect and express a lot of feelings that are solely personal. The very fact that the inspiration for letters is largely the personal life of the writer and they are for personal correspondence, the content is often unadulterated and very much straight from the heart. So, there we have our perfect catharsis.
As writers, we should definitely have a dynamic writing oeuvre and experiment with styles of writing. However, letter writing, for a lot of reasons, can be very useful if you’re a beginner or if you’re going through a creative block. And if we are to take inspiration from all the early writers, it is also a good way to write your first novel! So, let’s use this style to our maximum advantage.
Below is a list of possible topics to start writing your very first letters as a creative writing practice.
Follow this link to The Folded Paper’s guide of “TFP Brings Back the Letters”, a compilation of the letters written by our Paperians.
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