Another couple of questions/thoughts about letters ... I saw at least one request for hand-written letters.  How many people write their letters by hand?  That would be completely unnatural for me.  I do all my writing on the computer – have done for at least the past 15 years!  My handwriting used to be pretty readable, but over the years it’s gotten worse and worse.  I can still print legibly if I really, really work at it, but my regular writing is a messy scrawl.  Sometimes even I have a problem deciphering notes I’ve written to myself (yes, that’s sad).

And on a related issue – if you write a lot of letters, how much is different between one letter and another?  (I’m talking first letters to unknown recipients – obviously if you’re in a dialog you’re responding to what someone has written to you & so on.)  Even if I did hand write my letters, I’d still be pretty much writing the same things.  I mean, how original can you be when you’re writing a letter out of the blue to a stranger?  I’ve been “polishing” my introduction as times goes on, and if there’s something in the contact’s posting that gives me a “hook” I’ll write about something specific to that situation, but mostly there are a lot of identical paragraphs from letter to letter.  Do others run into the same thing, and do you see it as a problem?  A feeling that it’s not “personal” enough?   

Hi Jeri.....as sad as I am to say this, I actually have a standard first letter that I send. This morning, I dropped 5 first letters in the mail and they all said the exact same thing...just an introduction and letting them know if they had any specific things they needed or wanted to let me know. In the first letters I've sent, I have included a self-addressed envelope and 2 extra sheets of paper. I tell them I know they are busy, but hope that when they have a little bit of downtime they will take the time to send me their wishlist. I've sent about 15 first letters and have hand-written all of them, but -- like you -- I've been typing stuff for so long. Before, writing a letter would take me about 15 minutes, but now it takes me about 2 days because I can feel the muscles in my hand and arm cramping up. I'm thinking when it comes time for me to send 2nd letters, I might have to type them and then just explain to my contacts why they are typed. I've seen a few posts on here where people have typed their letters for whatever reason and their contacts totally understand.

Michelle

I have wondered if the contact actually meant a "real" letter, and not just a greeting card written by someone else, because I write my letters on the computer, but it is written from the heart, and not just someone else's words.  I have written a few short letters in my handwriting, though when we lost power, or during a thunderstorm when we unplugged the computers, and apologize for the henscratch, and one person wrote back and kindly complimented my writing, so that was nice.  When I write for anyone else to read, often I print in block letters, and it is so time-consuming that I only do it if I am pressed to get a box taped up in a hurry.  I wouldn't be able to do all of them that way, though.

Gran

I remember a contact requesting only hand-written letters, that they much preferred them to the mass-produced look of computer-generated ones. But I think he's more the exception than the rule, that in today's world, with the amount of time we spend on the computer, a typed letter can be and often is just as personal.

That being said, I hand write letters while watching TV on my rare nights off and while I have a couple of standard lines (ending with 'your sacrifices and those of your family at home are never taken for granted'), almost all of them are distinctive in the details. But then again, I get the feeling I don't write nearly as many as most people on this forum do. You guys are awesome.

alphagam7:

as sad as I am to say this, I actually have a standard first letter that I send.

Sad?  I think this is brilliant!  Someone else mentioned they had one, and my reaction was, well, duh, why didn't I think of that!

My days of handwritten anything are about 20 years gone already.

alphagam7:

.....as sad as I am to say this, I actually have a standard first letter that I send.

In the interest of maximizing efforts....yep!

I LOVE writing letters by hand, and when I first started this, all of my letters were hand-written.

My handwriting is also badly degraded since typing.  I'm mortified that most soldiers have nicer looking handwriting than mine.  Sadly I'm not a great typist either!  I do actually try to write all my letters by hand so that they do not feel like a form letter.  I do not write the same thing over and over even if writing several letters in one day.   I used to try to take notes so I would remember what stories I have told to which person... but I got lazy and quit with that and now I just cross my fingers. I always tell the truth though- so even if I do repeat myself- at least I know all the details are consistent!

On the rare occasion that I type a letter instead of write by hand I usually try to joke that I'm letting them off easy to not have to try to read my handwriting.

 If I do type a letter I always insert lots of pictures into the text to make the page more interesting and to give a better picture of our world.

Sarah:

I'm mortified that most soldiers have nicer looking handwriting than mine.

I have one female soldier that I will never hand-write a single word to, it would be soooo embarrassing.  I gather that good pensmanship made a comeback and nobody told me.

My hand cramps up when I try to write for too long and my penmanship is like that of a boy! A 5-year-old boy! I can't imagine ever writing well.
 

I already wrote in a different thread about typing rather than handwriting for health reasons.  It's comforting to know I'm not alone in leaving most of the handwritten stuff behind.  Like many of you, I have a standard first letter that I edit to personalize it somewhat.  I save ALL my letters on my computer (yeah, it's a huge file... I move older stuff to an obsolete file...) so I can keep track of what I've written to whom and what photos I've inserted.  I always include photos, which I think offsets the typing.  I might write basically the same thing to a number of contacts, but each letter is personalized for each of them.  Because of that, it can still take me a good while to whip out a letter.  I want to make sure they know I am writing to THEM and not just sending out a blanket greeting.  And I don't want to "dis" mass mailings.  I think most soldiers are just glad to get mail, even if it's not terribly personal. 

"hand" written or "heart" written, it's all good!

I also do a "form" letter to include in packages, and have sent them out on occasion when I got behind in my monthly goals.  If I'm just sending cards, I sign them from the family, and include a few handwritten lines on a separate piece of pretty paper.

Jeri, I think we are twins that were separated at birth - lol!  My handwriting is horrendous, and I, too, often have trouble reading my own notes, so I try not to subject others to the ordeal.  I'm hooked on word processing - for me, it's the only way to go.

And like you, I also have a somewhat standard "introductory" letter in my computere files - I change names and minor details, and like you, I have "polished" it over time.  I include, with each intro, pics of us, our cat, and our RV, a self-addressed AnySoldier card telling them they can use it to send us a list of specifics they'd like, and I've started adding a couple of AnySoldier business cards that they can hand out to friends to spread the word.  My hand cramps up if I hand-write for any length of time, so I don't do that.

Maybe it's a little callous of me, but I figure that if a soldier will disdain a typed letter, and only wants hand-written letters, then they can pass mine on to someone who will enjoy it.

My 2 cents!

Pat

I hand-wrote a very short introduction on a note card to someone that I liked so much that I ended up keeping a copy of it.  Now I hand-write that first note when I introduce myself to a new unit and I never have to think about what to say and can write it up just about anywhere.

It showed me how awful my penmenship had become and it's actually gotten much better. I laughed at myself when I started asking myself, Should I be using practice paper and drawing circles like I did in grade school?

They just found a letter written by Abraham Lincoln the other day and it just seems so much more personal to see his hand-writing.  It would never have had the same effect on me if it had been written with a typewriter - (which was an option at that time for you youngsters).  I love to look at hand-written letters in museums.  I'm not sure how I'm going to feel when I start seeing historic people's letters on printer paper.  It's a sign of the times, I suppose.  I guess I'm just a little nostalgic.