Letter Writing Week

A fabulous way to get the younger generation interested in letter writing is by having a day of 'Family Letter Writing'.

During the second week of January, have your entire family together around the dining table, and pass around sheets of stationery and pens / pencils. If you have stationery with your family logo emblazoned across, it'll be great! But plain sheets of white (or colored) papers would do just as well.

The idea is to write out a letter which is atleast two pages long. Both sides of the stationery is fine too. For smaller kids, they can choose to decorate the paper with images and squibbles, or they can depict what they'd like to communicate through a picture.

Make ideas as to who they can write to - grandparents are usually the best :) They always compliment, and they will more-often-than-not, write back! However, don't choose someone within the same household - the letter has to be put into an envelope, and posted to some address elsewhere. And hopefully, a reply will come back the same way. And little kids can always write to Santa! His address is given below for convenience ;)

You start by setting an example. Take out your well-worn pen, and write away! And keep writing till everyone around the table is done.

Once the letters are all written, bring out the envelopes, get the addresses written, and get everyone to put the letters in the envelopes and seal them. If you don't have postage at home, don't head online and print it out! As a family, head over to the nearest post office / convenience store, pick out suitable postage, and get everyone to affix postage on their envelopes. Don't choose couriers!! The magic has to stay true :) Post the envelopes, and come back home, feeling good about yourself.

Then come back to this lens, and fill in the guestbook saying that you've done this, and I'll send over a warm hug and good wishes your way :)

It is a great idea to have personalized stationery at home. Having something which inspires you to pick up a pen and write something is always nice. It is a proven fact that we like to write. When we were kids, we wrote quite a lot. Then, computers spoilt us. But then, if we count the number of words each of us writes - even today - we'll be amazed! Tweets, FaceBook updates, mails, chat messages, SMS, and all the official work we do - when counted, will come into several thousand words each day on average - and that's quite amazing!

To bring back the magic of writing, however, we need to get back to pen and paper. Atleast once in a while, we need to write physically to someone, and a great way of doing that is by having personalized stationery printed out. That can be ordered online, and here are a few great ideas -

- Have family stationery. It works best. Like you see in the image on top, it really is quite cute and usable. Instead of having real pictures (which are bound to appear quite narcissistic), these caricatures / cartoon images will make your stationery very appealing.

- Have personalized addressed stationery. We no longer maintain databases of mailing addresses of people. So your receivers won't know your address either :) Have a letter head kind of stationery with your address in the footer - quite like office stationery.

- Have something your kids made printed on your stationery. Little images of suns and dragons make for awesome ideas. You can upload those images and have stationery printed out. The kids will write more often since it is their own designs.

- Have hobby stationery - if you are a part of a hobby group, personalize your stationery with your hobby. Let garden implements or origami set the theme.

- Go wild and wacky - whether with Jane Fonda's aerobics or with John Wayne's westerns - think of a theme you love and have stationery made ready - afterall, the keyword here is 'personalization' and hacing paper which reflects your personality is great!

- Now use your own brain :)

The real magic of writing is when you have a Fountain Pen (a.k.a Ink Pen) handy.

Most people who write regularly abhor ball point or gel pens. They always carry a fountain pen in their pocket. That is why we see so many senior citizens still using fountain pens. And that is why companies like Parker, Sheaffers, and Mont Blanc still make and market these fine writing instruments.

Fountain Pens need not be very expensive. While the best of them cost a bomb, they are easily available at just a few dollars a piece, and make for fabulous gifts to people you want to spread the writing habit to. The only thing you need to pay attention to is that fountain pens need paper of a high quality to write well on. Using low grade paper can lead to blotting, spoiling the writing experience. A few great ideas in fountain pens are provided below in case you'd like to add them to your writing arsenal.