WeLoveSnailMail

From his 1890 missive “Eight or Nine Wise Words about Letter-Writing”

Write legibly.

Don't fill more than a page and a half with apologies for not having written sooner! The best subject, to begin with, is your friend's last letter.

Don't repeat yourself.

When you have written a letter that you feel may possibly irritate your friend, however necessary you may have felt it to so express yourself, put it aside till the next day. Then read it over again, and fancy it addressed to yourself.

If your friend makes a severe remark, either leave it unnoticed, or make your reply distinctly less severe: and if he makes a friendly remark, tending towards "making up" the little difference that has arisen between you, let your reply be distinctly more friendly.

Don't try to have the last word!

If it should ever occur to you to write, jestingly, in dispraise of your friend, be sure you exaggerate enough to make the jesting obvious: a word spoken in jest, but taken as earnest, may lead to very serious consequences.

When you say, in your letter, "I enclose cheque for £5," or "I enclose John's letter for you to see," leave off writing for a moment—go and get the document referred to—and put it into the envelope.

Otherwise, you are pretty certain to find it lying about, after the Post has gone!

I certainly do! Until recently most people wrote letters and even now you may find yourself called upon to do it, so today we will let history tell us the best way.

First of all, you will need a piece of paper:

Then, of course you will need someone to write to. Keep in mind that postal workers are nosy and refrain from writing too often to members of the opposite sex. Scandal may result and no one wants that.

When you are writing words it's important to know how to spell them. I know it may seem excessive, but keep the following in mind:

Also, it's best to know a bit about common grammar. Many of us have struggled with the difference between a colon and a semi-colon but it's best to familiarize yourself with the basics of punctuation:

And finally, keep in mind that you are continuing a long-standing tradition that is slowly being killed by the modern world: