How to Write Love Letters

One word will say it all: Essay! A love letter is very much like an essay, which is why I find an essay format to be incredibly helpful when trying to puzzle together my love letters.

If you've ever had an English class (whether in school or college) then you know the basic parts of an essay. In case you don't know (or you forgot... slacker) then here you go:
Introduction: Tell them what you are going to tell them (present thesis).
Body: Tell them (support thesis).
Conclusion: Tell them what you just told them (emphasize thesis).

Easy right? OK go!

What, you want more? Yeah I'd want more too.

Okay so let's start with the thesis. This is pretty universal for love letters. My thesis is usually: "I love you." Simple, yet accurate (it is, after all, a LOVE letter). It's probably the best one for you too, but you are welcome to come up with one of your own choice. The introduction paragraph will work around this thesis, but we'll do that later.

Next up is the body. These may be as many paragraphs as you wish (I recommend 2 if it's meant for a man, 6-12 if it's meant for a woman. Just kidding - not really. yes I am - or am I?), and you'll support your thesis through them. This means, you'll EXPLAIN why you feel the way you do. More on this later.

Finally, the conclusion. After you've said it all (hopefully), you have to wrap it up in a suitable way (you don't want it to write 20 paragraphs of words from the heart and end it with "Okay well see you later!"). Only one paragraph.

Are you still with me? Good, because there's more English Class lessons up next. Essays can be narrative, descriptive, compare and contrast, persuasive, aquatic, vegetarian, environmentalist, etc. Each of them follow different rules, and use different tools to make them effective. For love letters, I find it useful to blend the format of a Descriptive and Persuasive essay. Why these? Because in a love letter you (usually) want to DESCRIBE how you feel, and hopefully PERSUADE the reader to embrace these feelings. So, what you'll end up is:

Introduction (a la Descriptive): Dominant impression
Body (Blend): Sensory Details and Comparisons (Descriptive), evidence and examples supporting your point of view ( why should you, dear reader, love me back)
Conclusion (a la Persuasive): Return to Intro and why is your point of view good.

Are you getting the idea? Good. That's all I have for you in terms of English Class material. Now, let's move on to the good stuff!

Writing a love letter is more than dumping in the word "love" in every other sentence. If you are writing a letter, then it is meant to someone. Now, how you feel about that someone is what will fill the content of this precious document.

Start with simple questions like:
What's her/his name?
How old is she/he?
Height? Hair length and color? Eye color? Skin Color?
How did I meet her/him?

This helps you create an image of your reader to work with. Once you have these down (in any piece of paper, this is not going in the actual love letter), ask yourself the following:
Is he/she funny, smart, clever, witty, outgoing?
What do I find attractive?
What do I find cute?
What do I find sexy? (if applicable)

These are your building blocks A. You will actually refer to them in your love letter. It doesn't have to be a long list (it probably won't if you haven't had a chance to get to know that person that well, which happens quite often), it just has to be HONEST. Once you are done with these (and add any other information relevant to the section), describe how you feel when you:
See her/him.
Hear her/him.
Touch her/him.
Smell her/him (perfume)
Taste her/him (for those of you who have already kissed - or perhaps had a tequila shot off her/his bellybutton)

These are your building blocks B. This, right here, is how you feel. This is what you want to let them know in your love letter, and this is what you should spend most of your time on. It may take you 5 minutes or 10 hours, but again be HONEST with yourself. It doesn't have to be wordy or overflowing with adjectives, just write how you feel. Then, answer this:
What do you want to do with her/him?
What do you want to buy her/him?
Do you want to spend my life with her/him?
Do you want to make her/him happy?

These are your building blocs C. You'll use them to pitch yourself, and persuade the reader into accepting your point of view (because you are not such a bad person for them, right?). Sometimes this is hard, because when in love we believe the loved one is perfect and we sink ourselves in our own imperfections, but try to come up with some content especially if you are not dating yet.

Once you are done with this, I'd recommend you to keep on with your quest and read the following section. The thoughts and emotions that come to mind when doing this section can be useful for the following part: writing the love letter.

So, now that you kind of know what you want to say, let's say it!

Since it's a letter, it's a good idea to start with a variation of the usual "Dear Jane/John," If you do not know his/her name (for all of you writing a love letter for your crush) just try to get it somehow or address it in an appealing way (To the master of my heart,). I wouldn't pay attention to a letter addressed to me as "Dear boy with the short black hair," you know what I'm saying? If you feel for some reason that this intro isn't for you (too corny or whatever) then just ditch it, it won't affect the letter much (except the reader may not be entirely sure the letter is for him/her).

*REMEMBER: The first sentence must be strong, and it must entice the reader to keep on reading.

You have your thesis. I'll use "I love you" as an example to work with. You want to keep it simple, and avoid cliches. Using this thesis as the first sentence may get the point across, but it's not as powerful as you'd expect it to be. Try playing with it, turn it into a question (Have you ever been in love?), change the words (I find myself very infatuated with you), or keep it for the end of the Introduction. Don't use your building blocks yet, just work around the thesis.

First, the Descriptive part.

Here is where you unleash your muse. Use your building blocks A and B, group them up by common factors (talk about what happens when you SEE them, then when you HEAR them, etc) and pair them up (say one thing you like about him/her, and follow it with how that makes you feel).

If two sentences don't sound right one after another, then create another one to make the transition. Example:

Sentence 1:When you talk to me, I want to hide.
Sentence 2:I wish I could hear your voice every day.
After transition is in place: When you talk to me, I want to hide, for I'm afraid I'll make a fool of myself. And even though I can't predict how I'll react in the presence of your lovely voice, I wish I could hear it every day.

Even one single paragraph will suffice, avoid repeating yourself. Try to limit your adjectives to those you actually believe in (guys in particular tend to put a minimum of three adjectives before each reference to the reader). When talking about your loved one, it's useful to stick to just one adjective or adverb, like "lovely" or "precious."

Next, the Persuasive part (if you need it).

Use your building blocs C. Pretend you are a product in an infomercial. What would Billy Mays say about you? You need to express why you are a good match for the reader, and why she/he should welcome your feelings. This part is pretty straight forward, so just work on it.

Try to keep the ratio of descriptive:persuasive to 2:1 of your body at a maximum.

This is pretty universal. It's time to wrap it up. You have to let them know it was relief to say all of what you said, and (if it's relevant) that you wish you could have told them in person, but a letter was the only way to get it all through.

Keep it simple, just a few sentences emphasizing your thesis, and (again, if it's relevant and if you dare), urge them to make the next step. Something like "I cannot stand another day without knowing how you feel about all this" will give the message strong and clear. Of course, you'd have to sign it with your real name so that she/he knows who to take the next step with. Remind them that you are a good match for them, and end with this something OTHER than: "Love, John/Jane"

Ready to deliver? I don't think so.

First take a break from the writing. Watch TV, read a news paper, play some games, sleep, work, study, whatever. Then, come back to your letter and revise, revise, revise! No grammatical mistakes acceptable in love letters, ever! Take your time to make sure you chose the right words, and read it out loud to make sure it "sounds" the way you want it to.

After you are done with this, make sure you have saved this document. You don't want to lose it, since it took you so much effort to write it.

Next, you have to know how to present it. If it's for a special day, then just hand write it on a fancy light colored paper (cream or yellow) and put it in a nice envelope. If you can fit all of your love letter in a greeting card from Hallmark, then that works too. If you are going to deliver it to someone who doesn't know about your feelings, then I'd advice the following:

For all of you guys, resist the temptation of typing it and handwrite it. You may not want to run the risk of her not understanding your messy hand writing, but you don't want her to think that you just printed off something from the internet of had your secretary write it for you.
Make it romantic and add a little bonus. If you are not delivering it with a present (which you should!), then add something romantic like a rose or the movie ticket you saved from your first date.
Deliver it yourself. Be CLEAN and dressed up. Women love suits.

If you are shy or want to remain unknown to the reader, then...
Deliver it somewhere where you can see her/his reaction (his locker, in cubicle, etc.) but she/he can't see you.
If you are giving it to a guy, avoid big flashy paper with scents. He may be embarrassed to open it and won't read it until he is completely alone, which won't let you watch his reaction.
Try not to deliver it yourself, because the awkward moment where she/he reads the letter and you are just standing there may freak you out.

I hope you were pleased with your product. I hope the best for all of you! Please leave a comment in the guestbook so that I can know what else I should add! Thanks!