Category «Letters»

Unwritten letters (Mistake #121)

There have been paeans to letters before, of course, and I’ve written a few myself too, but when a recent one by writer Beatrice Charles captured some of the many charms of letters (and postcards) and indeed the joy of writing them, I felt moved to produce another. In the second of my writing e-guides, 50 …

Letters as clippings (Mistake #78)

A lot of new writers break into print via the letters page in a magazine or newspaper. At least, that’s the case with my students, as the course for which I’m a correspondence tutor encourages writers to submit letters and other fillers to magazines quite early on, and it surprises some students how quickly this …

Missive attachment (Mistake #73)

Question from a student: “After submitting a letter, how long should one wait before assuming the letter will not be used? Should one treat letters as ‘disposable’?” Send one off and if you don’t hear anything, forget about it and write another?” I have been asked this many times before, and I probably always give …

Agreeing (Mistake #60)

I’m suddenly feeling a bit ambivalent towards … agreement, I guess, is the only word for it, although it doesn’t feel quite right. Agreeness? Agreeance? I see a lot of letters – ie letters to editors, for letters pages – which make a point of agreeing. “I agreed with your article on extreme knitting, and …

“Dear Editor…” (Mistake #30)

Not addressing an editorial contact by name when you write to them with an idea, proposal or article — an easily avoidable mistake. Each of these sets my teeth on edge: Dear Sir/Madam\ Dear Ms/Miss/Mrs/Mr Jones To Whom it May Concern… Each suggests lack of care, lack of research, lack of … unlaziness. Imagine receiving …