The Art of Letter Writing

Many of us rue the lost art of letter writing; actually, simple hand writing itself is really a largely uncommon practice today in this quick paced world of electronic communication where emailing, texting and tweeting have become the order of your day. Those were the times when letters were painstakingly written to communicate good and also unpleasant news, but letter writing itself had become a skill, a treasure trove of information and communication that may be preserved for generations.

Nothing can beat the excitement of discovering a vintage letter; perhaps a frayed, yellowed, hand written document that painstakingly conveys feeling and emotions through the power of the written word. In the same way historians have divided civilization and time between BC and AD, the vast cultural shift may soon demand that eras describe 'when people hand wrote letters' and 'when they forgot the art of writing'.

The impact of hand written letters

Hand writing as a habit and an art has defined and tracked the progress of mankind and the civilized world for over 500 years. Letters written by famous personalities to friends and family, of daily happenings and special events, can for the most part times be sorted or arranged in chronological fashion, telling or creating a heart-warming story or anecdote that could be shared over generations. Letters have fulfilled the role of literary devices right from enough time of Shakespeare where epistolary novels depicted events and occasions through the series of letters compiled by characters depicted in the novels.

Compelling evidence of an individual's lifestyle, his habits and mannerisms and many more can be deduced from written letters. The design of handwriting is exclusive to every individual as the fingerprint is, and may be the subject of great research and study of people characteristics.

An easy disappearing trait

Today, that letter writing ability is confined to email replies and forwards, tailed one on the other resulting in a trail of communication, mostly unpleasant. We have greeting cards, printed and electronic, for every occasion possible; electronic communication like email, SMS, faxes, video chat etc. negate the need of the written letter.

A year or two ago, a media house thought up the fantastic idea of hand written letters, an initiative to regenerate the letter writing habit. A 'from a father to a daughter' initiative found many ordinary folks and celebrities grab the pen and 'pen' down a note from the center to 'daddy's little girl'. The emotional bonding it replenished and recreated was a highlight.

It might be safely assumed that the existing generation has grown up without knowing the intricate art of letter writing or the impressive communication it generates between sender and receiver, given because they are to the 'quick send and receive' modes of SMS, emails and tweets. While there is no denying that electronic communication is interactive and allows geographical distances to be electronically diminished, the anticipation of a two-way communication that the power of the written letter can offer is beyond compare.

The globally wired communication setup has thrown up endless modes of interaction between people and communities and the planet at large. Literary masters are critical of the brief and abbreviated text communiqu�s like SMS and tweets that have replaced conventional forms. Overall, it is quite disheartening to learn that some don't even format messages utilizing their own words but merely rely on forward messages to save time. Occasions like Friendship Day can clog communication networks with ' friendship SMS [1] ' messages that zip around the world.