Book Review: Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters

I purchased Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters That People Are Actually Eager to Read by Janet Colbrunn because I needed some inspiration for my yearly Christmas letters. I had no idea what I was getting because Amazon didn't offer a description and I couldn't find one anywhere else either. But it turned out to be a great resource.

I finally found an official website for the book that says, "You can quickly learn to transform a traditional letter into one that is so entertaining that even the busiest holiday reveler can't lay it aside." And that's no lie from the marketing department. I actually had a good time reading the sample letters, even though I don't know the author or the family she was writing about. Colbrunn's examples show just how fun and creative Christmas letters can be.

The writer doesn't just provide a laundry list of ideas. She provides concrete examples of real letters she has sent during the holidays, from the 1988 Diary letter to the 2005 End of Year Statistics letter and many others.

My personal favorite was the 1995 trivia game that included a game board with questions and answers about things such as a graduation party that turned into a surprise birthday party. I also like the holiday letter that was a series of fake letters to Santa Claus and the "2003 by the Numbers" letter that included info such as:

3 times we visited the Toledo Zoo with friends and family. The kids liked the monkeys best
30 toddler teeth brushed at the beginning of the year
60 toddler teeth brushed at the end of the year
98 hours per week that Jen works as a full-time triplet mom

You'll find a brief explanation of each letter in the book along with work space for you to start your own creations. Some of the other examples you'll find inside:

- List letters to highlight your family news as top 10 TV shows or best selling books.
- Format letters to disguise your update as a crossword puzzle or a board game. (Both very fun!)
- Perspective letters that appear to be written by the baby, the family pet or a guardian angel.

If you aren't inspired to write more creative Christmas letters after reading Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters That People Are Actually Eager to Read, you must surely be a Grinch.

(Revised from HubPages: Review: Ideas for Writing Creative Christmas Letters by Janet Colbrunn)

One way to get creative with your annual Christmas letters is to use a fun Christmas letter template. Templates are downloadable documents that are ready for you to add your own text and photos. You can get Christmas templates (as well as many other kind of templates) with a membership to sites such as Blue Mountain Greetings, or you can buy downloadable Christmas letterhead in kits with a variety of options. If you just want to purchase one template at the time, you can try the printable Christmas letter templates (such as the one shown here) at Christmas Letter Tips.com.