"Your lovely low-key style and obvious joy in connecting and sharing this passion is a delight."

Writing is hard.
Writing Practice by the Letter Makes It Interesting

It's the writing workshop with Surprising Returns*

Writing Practice by the Letter is a fresh approach to writing practice.

In this three-part series, we begin with letters of thanks and gratitude and move on to storytelling.

THANK YOU NOTES are the win-win of letter writing. They are short and sweet, just 2 or 3 sentences, and a gratifying way to ease into writing.

Designed to develop an ongoing writing routine, each session begins with a review of best practices, followed by writing time.

Session 1: Let's Start with Thank You
We'll compose with a 2-3 sentence thank you note and review:
• elements of letter writing
• organizing your writing
• writing in a conversational tone
• the handwriting dilemma

Session 2: Storytelling and Editing
Letter writing is a platform for sharing stories. In this session, we'll review:
• who to write to
• word choice and opening lines
• writing, editing, and rewriting
• trimming the fat

Session 3: Writers Choice
In this session we'll cover themes and ideas for writing.
• reaching out through letters
• another way to say hello
• love notes (not just for lovers)

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Book Your Workshop

Workshop duration: 1.5 hours/session
Class size: limited to 20

Consider Writing Practice By The Letter for breakout sessions, training, and enrichment programs.

Workshop materials include:
• tip sheets: writing, punctuation, and the elements of a letter
• sample letters by well-known and not-so-well-known personalities
• stationery from our exclusive in-house selection
• stamps from our collection of vintage and forever stamps
• inspiring bonus materials

Get in touch today to book your workshop and improve your writing . . . and well-being.

Book Your Workshop

"Loved this workshop. It has gotten me over the hurdle of being daunted by writing."

*Surprising Returns
Research and experience shows that writing letters of gratitude can foster a sense of well-being:

In A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life, we meet attorney John Kralik. Depressed, broke, and in the middle of his second divorce, Kralik decides it's time to be grateful for the good in his life and commits to writing one thank you note a day. It's a story of renewed optimism, happiness, and success; how 365 thank you notes changed a life.

In Letters of Gratitude: Improving Well-Being through Expressive Writing, Steven Toepfer and Kathleen Walker studied the impact of writing letters of gratitude. They wondered: would writing notes of gratitude boost a person's sense of well-being? It does.

They found: Just three installments of 10-15 minutes (average writing time for 35% of the sample) and one page in length (53% of the sample) was sufficient to usher in positive change. This suggests that as an intentional activity,  letters of gratitude can have important benefits for authors in a relatively short period of time.

The findings presented in this study indicate that putting one’s feeling and thoughts of gratitude on paper has real benefits after the pen leaves the paper. The preexisting and often silent resource of gratitude can be mobilized in the pursuit of not happiness alone but toward the growth of gratitude and ultimately well-being.
 
Toepfer, S., & Walker, J. (2009). Letters of Gratitude: Improving Well-Being through Expressive Writing. Journal of Writing Research

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