Write on: handwritten letter ideas for Letter Writing Month!

16 fun handwritten letter ideas to try

While you may need to force yourself out of your comfort zone at first, letter-writing should be fun, and not a chore. It will feel awkward and you may struggle in the beginning to think about what to write, but try to think about it in the same way as a catch-up phone call, except that you get the chance to do all of the talking, and can erase anything that sounds silly or meandering. It’s important to note that not all of these letters have to be sent. In fact, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to do so! Instead, the therapeutic impact you will get from writing them will be worth the time and effort (and paper) put into creating them - and will sharpen your handwriting and your introspective skills. Thank you letters: Have you received a gift recently? Whether it’s for a wedding, birthday or just because, writing thank you letters or notes can be an extremely satisfying way to express your gratitude - and a good way to warm up for longer letters! Far-flung (maybe forgotten about) relatives: Whether it’s a great aunt on the isle of Skye, or a former friend of the family who moved away to Australia, time goes by quickly. Writing a letter is a way to reconnect without the stress that sometimes comes with a phone call, and there’ll be so much to catch them up on once you put pen to paper. Letters to your parents: Parent-child relationships can be fractious, and even the healthiest relationships sometimes leave things - both positive and negative - unsaid. Sitting down and explaining your feelings on paper gives you a chance to give your side of a conversation in a considered and uninterrupted manner - and it’s totally up to you if you end up sending it. Letters to your children: These could be cute one-off notes telling them things they don’t usually stay still for long enough to hear, or more of a regular habit. Some people have even set aside a notebook to regularly write letters to their child from birth onwards, as something to give them when they are older. Your partner: Sometimes the people who’d most like a letter don’t need the post office to deliver it. Harken back to the early days of your relationship by dropping them a note on how much they mean to you. Your niece or nephew: You could send them a letter and a little gift, just because. Many of us received these little tokens of affection through the post growing up, but they now seem to be restricted to birthdays and Christmas. Letters to someone who has made your life difficult, or a bully from childhood: This is another option that is more for your benefit than theirs, especially if you do not end up sending it. It can be a wholly cathartic practice. Birthdays/anniversaries/new jobs/ moving: Is it someone’s birthday soon? Try sending them a letter instead of a card. In fact, any time when you’d usually just put your name and a line in a card could be the perfect time to send a handwritten letter instead. Small acts of kindness: Do you have any gift cards or vouchers you don’t plan on using? Send them to someone who will. It may seem like a small gesture, but its random and thoughtful nature could really brighten someone's day. Old school friends or work colleagues: You most likely haven't spoken in ages, and there will be a wealth of shared memories to go over. It could even lead to a regular correspondence habit. Celebrities or experts that you admire: Famous people get fan mail all the time, and as long as you stay out of the range of crazed super fans, this can be a fun way to express how much you admire them and their work. While you shouldn’t expect a response from Beyonce, authors and minor celebrities can be extremely forthcoming, and grateful for the feedback. As a small business: If you run a business, there’s much to be gained by handwriting a note to go out with orders - particularly if your products are already handmade. Use it as a way to share memories & photographs: Do you have any much-loved photographs that you want to share? Instead of popping them up on Facebook, print them out and post them to those who would love to receive them, rather than getting the odd like from someone who barely knows you. Service workers: Is there a regular place you go to for coffee? You could write a thank you note to the workers there - especially if they always remember your order! Pen Pal programs: There are multiple programs calling out for either one-off or regular letter-writers. These are usually to provide connection for lonely or vulnerable people, such as army veterans or the elderly, as well as people who are seeking a pen pal in general. Letter to your future or past self: Sometimes the person you really want to connect with is yourself. A popular device of personal development programs, writing a letter to yourself in 5, 10 or 25 years - or writing a letter to your 16 year old self - can help you deal with all sorts of thoughts and feelings that you may not be aware of. Write to a publication: We’ve all seen the letters pages in magazines, but who writes letters like these? You can! For something a little bit more challenging, try writing a letter to a paper, magazine, or even a blog or news site that you regularly read. Of course, this will take a bit more planning and structure than writing a chatty catch-up letter to an aunt, but seeing your letter in print, if they choose it, can be well worth a try. Plus, there’s sometimes a cool gift for the best letter. Tip: When writing to someone familiar, even if you haven't spoken in a while, write in your own voice. Unless you are writing in a formal capacity there is no need to adopt a formal tone. Let your words flow. A huge one-fifth of children in the UK have never received a handwritten letter. It is time that we re-embrace this most creative and emotive form of communication, and teach the younger generations how much joy can be had from a reply dropping through the letterbox. And what better time than during Letter-Writing Month? If you’re stuck for ideas, don’t worry: we’ve done all the homework for you. Here’s our complete list of the best handwritten letter ideas for 2023.

Who writes letters anymore?

When was the last time you sent a letter? Better yet, when was the last time you sat down to write an actual hand-crafted letter - with a pen and a piece of paper - to someone that wasn’t connected to you in a professional manner (angry resignation letters don’t count)? We have been writing letters for centuries (since 800 BC in fact), yet it is a dying artform, and we are all the poorer for it. Writing letters offers multiple mental health benefits, as we discussed in a recent blog post, but they also give us a unique chance to slow down and take stock of what is happening. A hand-written letter can act much like a diary entry, except it is going to be seen by a different person. By having to put into words what is going on in our lives, we have the opportunity to see them from an outsider's viewpoint, gaining a perspective that our non-stop lifestyles do not ordinarily allow.

Handwritten letter ideas for kids

There’s no getting around the fact that we, as a society, don’t write by hand much anymore. Even the most traditional setting for pens and paper, such as schools and offices, are becoming more and more reliant on screens, keys and touchpads. As well as setting an example that writing is fun, you could go a step further and get your children involved this Letter Writing Month, sharpening their creativity and handwriting skills. Here are a few of our ideas for who they could write to:

• Letters to grandparents/aunties & uncles.
• Letters to a teacher, especially if they are leaving or the child is changing class.
• Letters to favourite book/TV/film/comic book character - although you might have to get creative with how they can ‘send’ it.
• Letters to a cousin - this could become a penpal habit.
• Letters to a pen pal - how many of us took part in the pen pal pages of magazines as a child? Some schools run a pen pal program, so it’s always worth asking, but there are also global organisations that match up children around the world, based on their interests, ages and hobbies. A good place to start is at International Pen Friends, which has been connecting pen pals for 56 years.
• Write to their favourite author.
• If your little one is keen on space, there’s even a chance to write to an astronaut! All you need to do is pick an astronaut on the NASA website, then send the letter addressed to them at NASA/Johnson Space Center, CB/Astronaut Office Houston, TX 77058.

Extra tip: help them with a list of prompts that they could write about, and make it fun with nice paper and an array of colourful pens. Guide them on how letters are laid out but try not to interfere: you want the creativity to be fun, rather than feel like a lesson.

The best tools for letter writing

As with any hobby, there can be a certain satisfaction from sourcing and using the right tools - and luckily, Katie Leamon has them in abundance. For the paper, you will want to use something that works with any pen, especially fountain pens, so anything above 80gsm to ensure the ink doesn't bleed through. Our correspondence paper is a luxurious 135gsm weight and comes in a range of beautiful soft hues, crafted to make writing on them a delight. If paper is something you’d like to learn more about, we’ve got a blog post that delves further into which papers are best for certain pens and why. If the idea of filling multiple sides of paper fills you with dread, you can still get across the message with a shorter missive. Our notecards are perfect for this. For the pen itself, while you can certainly compose a handwritten letter with any old biro or pencil you have lying around, a good pen can help ease the inevitable writer's cramp, and will also help your handwriting look as good as possible.

Final thoughts

It’s time we brought back the pen writing habit (and skills!) of our forefathers. We’ve managed it with polaroids and vinyl, so why not the handwritten letter next? We’ve got another blog post that can help you with every step of the process, so there’s really no excuse. All you’ll need next is a stamp, and we’ve got that covered too! Whoever you choose to write to, and whatever you choose to write about, make sure you do it in style with a nice pen and some Katie Leamon paper - and always, always, remember to have fun.