Never underestimate the power of your written words. In these days of fast track living, who takes the time to sit down and actually drag out paper and pen and put their words to paper? It’s so easy to pick up the phone or dash off an email, but neither of these is as effective or personal; written words have so much more impact. Letter writing is a dying art-but if I have anything to do with it, it will live again.
Forget about format, style and tone-just pick up that pen and start writing. When writing your annual humorous Christmas letter, keep it short-one page is enough. If you write the letter from your own perspective, simply state the facts as you see them, and that includes the negative facts as well as the positive. Don’t gloss over the bad stuff….tell it like it is- the readers of your Christmas news letter will appreciate your approach and may actually read the entire letter.
Some common letter writing rules:
- Don’t brag-no one likes a braggart and it makes your letter that much harder to get through.
- Keep it real-tell the events of your life as truthfully as you can, your friends will know if you sugar coat.
- Make your letter happy and upbeat-you want them to enjoy reading it, don’t you?
- Keep it short-one page is probably enough, would you want to read more, or have the time to?
- Remember to focus on the high points of your year; you can’t possibly fit in every detail.
What happened in the last twelve months?
What events stand out in your mind about the last twelve months? Funny things, serious things, unbeleivable things; they all count. Who graduated from what? Did anyone go off to war or come home from war? What cool technology did you buy or receive? Check your calendar and/or diary to nudge your memory on all the things that went on in the past year. Did your husband or wife start a new business, finish getting their teeth worked on, get a promotion? Who moved into or out of town? Who had a baby, got married, got a promotion?
Check your cell phone contact list and text message inbox for reminders of recent events. Have a gab session with friends and family to see what they remember.
What are you thankful for?
Sit down and make a list of all that you have to be thankful for, and add these to your letter. I’m always thankful for good health and a great family, work that I enjoy, a great house to live in, friendly neighbors, plenty to eat.
What did you do to help others?
Did you visit the sick or elderly? Did you contribute to a worthy cause, do anything to help our environment, mentor a child? If your answer is no to all of the above, it’s not too late to make yourself available to the needy in your community and add it to your holiday letter.
Kids Christmas lists and funny sayings
List the funny and memorable things your kids are asking for this year, and your experiences fullfilling their wishes. Tell about the funny things they said and did too.
When you sit down to actually write your Christmas letter, use brightly colored paper and include pictures. Make your letter informal and fun. It should be chit-chatty, not formal and boring; make it flow so people will want to keep reading.
Write your letter from a different perspective
Choose a different perspective to write from. Maybe your child’s perspective, or your pets’. Writing from one of these points of view would definitely make a very funny letter.
Examples:
“This year has been a joyful one. My husband and I were graced with not one, but two grandchildren-both are boys born six weeks apart. We had a time racing around from store to store buying blankets, bibs and booties. We forgot how much stuff babies need; when I first started buying diapers they came in only one style, now the number of different styles is enough to make your head spin, and believe me ours did.”
“Clifton graduated from high school with an A average-no thanks to his learning challenged mother-me. He got lots of presents in the forms of checks from relatives. He used the money for a down payment on a new truck which he now drives around and around the neighborhood showing off. We’re just glad the days of homework and parent-teacher meetings are over.”
“It’s been a pretty hectic year around here; I’ve seen and heard most of it from my perch inside my bird cage. Honestly, the way they run around here on a non-stop basis, you’d think the house was on fire. No one uses an alarm clock around here, they wake up to a starting bell.”
I think the main thing when writing your “customized holiday card” is to just be yourself; the people you’re writing to will know the difference. And when you drop your holiday cards in the mail, you’ll know you’ve made a difference in the lives of those you love.
