新編大學英語第三冊unit5 Text D: How to Write a Personal Letter
UNIT 5 AFTER-CLASS READING 3; New College English (III)
How to Write a Personal Letter
1 We shy persons need to write a letter now and then, or else people will forget us. It's true. And I speak as one who prefers to reach for the phone, dial the number, and talk. The telephone is the easy way out. A letter is better.
2 Such a sweet gift a piece of handmade writing, in an envelope that is not a bill, sitting in our friend's path when she trudges home from a long day at work, a day our words will help repair. They don't need to be immortal, just sincere. She can read them twice and again tomorrow: You're someone I care about, Corinne, and think of often, and every time I do, you make me smile.
3 We need to write; otherwise nobody will know who we are. They will have only a vague impression of us as A Nice Person, because frankly, we don't shine at conversation, we lack the confidence to thrust our faces forward and say, "Hi, I'm Heather Hoffman, let me tell you about my week." Mostly we say "Uh huh" and "Oh really." People smile and look over our shoulder, looking for someone else to talk to.
4 So a shy person sits down and writes a letter. To be known by another person to meet and talk freely on the page to be close despite distance. To escape from anonymity and be our own sweet selves and express the music of our souls.
5 We want our dear Aunt Eleanor to know that we have fallen in love, that we quit our job, that we're moving to New York, and we want to say a few things that might not get said in casual conversation: thank you for what you've meant to me. I am very happy right now.
6 The first step in writing letters is to get over the guilt of not writing. You don't "owe" anybody a letter. Letters are a gift. The burning shame you feel when you see unanswered mail makes it harder to pick up a pen and makes for a cheerless letter when you finally do. I feel bad about not writing, but I've been so busy, etc. Skip this. Few letters are obligatory, and they are Thanks for the wonderful gift and I am terribly sorry to hear about George's death. Write these promptly if you want to keep your friends. Don't worry about the others, except love letters, of course. Obviously when your true love writes Dear Light of My life, Joy of My Heart, you should respond immediately.
7 Some of the best letters are written in a burst of inspiration, so keep your writing stuff in one place where you can sit down for a few minutes and write a quick note to a friend. Keep envelopes, stamps, address book, everything in a drawer so you can write fast when the pen is hot.
8 Sit for a few minutes with the blank sheet in front of you, and meditate on the person you will write to, let your friend come to mind until you can almost see her or him in the room with you. Remember the last time you saw each other and how your friend looked and what you said and what perhaps was unsaid between you; when your friend becomes real to you, start to write.
9 Write the salutation Dear You and take a deep breath and begin. A simple declarative sentence will do, followed by another and another. Tell us what you're doing and tell it as if you were talking to us. Don't think about grammar, don't think about style, don't try to write dramatically, just give us your news. Where did you go, who did you see, what did they say, and what do you think?
10 If you don't know where to begin, start with the present: I'm sitting at the kitchen table on a rainy Saturday morning. Everyone is gone and the house is quiet. Let your simple description of the present lead to something else. Let the letter drift gently along.
11 The hardest letter to write is one that is meant to impress, as we all know from writing job applications; if it's hard work to produce a letter for a friend, maybe you're trying too hard to be terrific. A letter is only a report to someone who already likes you for reasons other than your brilliance. Take it easy.
12 Don't worry about form. It's not a term paper. When you come to the end of one episode, just start a new paragraph. You can go from a few lines about the sad state of rock 'n' roll to the fight with your mother to your fond memories of Mexico to the kitchen sink and what's in it. The more you write, the easier it gets.
13 Don't tear up the page and start over when you write a bad line try to write your way out of it. Make mistakes and continue. Let the letter cook along and let yourself be bold. Outrage, confusion, love whatever is in your mind, let it find a way to the page. Writing is a means of discovery, always, and when you come to the end and write Yours ever or Hugs and Kisses, you'll know something you didn't when you started the letter.
14 Probably your friend will put your letter away, and it'll be read again a few years from now and it will improve with age.
15 And forty years from now, your friend's grandkids will dig it out of the attic and read it, a sweet and precious relic of the ancient eighties that gives them a sudden clear glimpse of the world we old-timers knew. You will then have created an object of art. Your simple lines about where you went, who you saw, what they said, will speak to those children and they will feel in their hearts the humanity of our times.
16 You can't pick up a phone and call the future and tell them about our times. You have to pick up a piece of paper.
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