Anyone else still write letters?

[Bluth Corporation]

A comment I made on the Handwriting thread got me to wondering...how many people here still write actual, handwritten letters that are sent through the mail, on a regular basis?

I'm not talking about sending a card with a note for a special occasion (though that's certainly part of it), but taking a pad of paper, and writing substantial multi-paragraph letters, on a regular basis, as a major means of communicating with people?

I do it with many of my old friends from my hometown or other places I've lived or been for a significant period of time, whom I no longer see in person on a regular basis. It's always exciting to get an envelope hand-addressed to you with a name and return address you recognize in the mail.

[Saint Clair Island]

I used to, when I was younger; but the "letter in mailbox" feeling never really touched me in the right way, and e-mails and phone calls and the like were a lot easier (I've always had a hard time doing stuff with my hands, including writing), so I dropped the habit.

[Barnettsville]

I did quite a bit of it during my military deployment. But then, it also took 2 weeks to get mail from Iraq to the States, too.

[The Great Salsa Shark]

It's been a long time since I've done that. When I got a computer, and especially when I got high speed internet, letter writing went out the window. Though, with my handwriting that's probably not a bad thing.

[Parthenon]

Not since the advent of email. Did quite a bit as a child though, penpal in Germany.

[The Scandinvans]

I used to, when I was younger; but the "letter in mailbox" feeling never really touched me in the right way, and e-mails and phone calls and the like were a lot easier (I've always had a hard time doing stuff with my hands, including writing), so I dropped the habit.

My handwriting is somewhere between chicken scratch and random saliva stains on my paper from me taking a power nap in class.

[Cameroi]

my mind works in pictures. it's a major battle to translate them into words (unless it's just running off at the keyboard like i do here. something about the enjoyment of using a computer makes things easier some mysterious how to do on/with them then otherwise, even when the actual amount of effort involved is roughly the same). one i thus avoid engauging in more then a very few times a year, if that.

i'm sort of glad for this reason i'm not any sort of celebrity who has all that fan mail to wade through.

[Bluth Corporation]

Sure, e-mail is fast, easy, and cheap. I use it myself for quick notes for making plans, etc.--stuff that needs to be done quickly.

But for real, personal communication, how can e-mail possibly compare with getting something the other person actually, physically touched; something that he or she had to put a lot of thought and care into every sentence since there's no backspace, and had to get up and walk out in the fresh air to put it in the mailbox to send it; something that could be stained with your friends' tears after the loss of a loved one or scented with your lovers' perfume? How could e-mail ever take a letter's place?

[Wilgrove]

My handwriting sucks, so I type everything, and I do mean everything.

[Garimidia]

My handwriting sucks, so I type everything, and I do mean everything.

Seconded.

[Barzan]

Sure, e-mail is fast, easy, and cheap. I use it myself for quick notes for making plans, etc.--stuff that needs to be done quickly.

But for real, personal communication, how can e-mail possibly compare with getting something the other person actually, physically touched; something that he or she had to put a lot of thought and care into every sentence since there's no backspace, and had to get up and walk out in the fresh air to put it in the mailbox to send it; something that could be stained with your friends' tears after the loss of a loved one or scented with your lovers' perfume? How could e-mail ever take a letter's place?

Ahh...you, sir, are a romantic. A man of class, culture, sophistication, and letters. I must say I admire that. I see you sitting in a leather chair in a library next to a fireplace sipping cognac whilst perusing the works of Chaucer.

I am...a bit...envious!

[Saint Clair Island]

Sure, e-mail is fast, easy, and cheap. I use it myself for quick notes for making plans, etc.--stuff that needs to be done quickly.

But for real, personal communication, how can e-mail possibly compare with getting something the other person actually, physically touched; something that he or she had to put a lot of thought and care into every sentence since there's no backspace, and had to get up and walk out in the fresh air to put it in the mailbox to send it; something that could be stained with your friends' tears after the loss of a loved one or scented with your lovers' perfume? How could e-mail ever take a letter's place?

|shrugs| Someday, I'll work on improving my penmanship, when I feel a desire or ability to spend a few months doing so. But until then, if I need to send a letter, I'll type it and print it out. My handwriting's legible, but physically difficult to produce.

[Anemos Major]

Because it's obligatory in some places in England, yes.

[Obvious Pseudonym]

Sure, e-mail is fast, easy, and cheap. I use it myself for quick notes for making plans, etc.--stuff that needs to be done quickly.

But for real, personal communication, how can e-mail possibly compare with getting something the other person actually, physically touched; something that he or she had to put a lot of thought and care into every sentence since there's no backspace, and had to get up and walk out in the fresh air to put it in the mailbox to send it; something that could be stained with your friends' tears after the loss of a loved one or scented with your lovers' perfume? How could e-mail ever take a letter's place?

That's the downside.

The upside is that with electronic communication you are able to create a pseudo-conversation, as though you were facing the other person and having a chat. Letters have to be properly thought out and primed and fired-with-care and mathematical precision. Emails can be shot off like firecrackers.


Personally I like the idea of communication by post, and one day I'd like to find someone with whom I can exchange regular physical correspondence.

[Pope Joan]

My mother is hard of hearing, so I can't phone her.

That means I need to write letters because she avoids computers so email is out of the question.

And I do write letters for her!

But I hardly ever mail them.

I am not callous, just disorganized, and possibly postofficephobic.

[Barzan]

My mother is hard of hearing, so I can't phone her.

That means I need to write letters because she avoids computers so email is out of the question.

And I do write letters for her!

But I hardly ever mail them.

I am not callous, just disorganized, and possibly postofficephobic.

My grandmother and mother write me letters occasionally, but I never write them back. But I do phone them on their respective birthdays...sometimes. I did send my mother a card for Mother's Day this year, though.

[Brogavia]

[quote="The Scandinvans"My handwriting is somewhere between chicken scratch and random saliva stains on my paper from me taking a power nap in class.[/quote]

^this^

[Maurepas]

People still use paper? Barbarians....

[Pope Joan]

My mother is hard of hearing, so I can't phone her.

That means I need to write letters because she avoids computers so email is out of the question.

And I do write letters for her!

But I hardly ever mail them.

I am not callous, just disorganized, and possibly postofficephobic.

My grandmother and mother write me letters occasionally, but I never write them back. But I do phone them on their respective birthdays...sometimes. I did send my mother a card for Mother's Day this year, though.

Progress, that's what that is!

A step forward in the letterphobic rehab program.

[Mariahamn]

I pen letters to overseas correspondence and agree with the sentiment of Bluth Corporation.

[The Great Lord Tiger]

I don't... I just can't like writing letters. It seems so pointless, nowadays. Why triple (minimum) the amount of time necessary to write out a message to someone, and then exponentially increase the amount of time to get it TO the person when it can be instantaneous?

'Course, I don't see how people can just stand around and shoot the shit, either. I'm one of those people who hates NOT doing anything. As such, I can't really see a reason to send a letter and wait around instead of just emailing them or calling them and saying, Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas and getting on with your life.

And I grant that there are exceptions, usually from the older generations.

[Pepe Dominguez]

I still write letters, all the time. The only difference is that nowadays I write them electronically, using a computer. It's pretty cool, actually.

[Mad hatters in jeans]

I like writing letters to people, and i might also draw a picture too, because i'm a very immature person.
The rest of the time i hate writing.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

I used to. Then I got my laptop and e-mails replaced the letters.

[EvilDarkMagicians]

my mind works in pictures. it's a major battle to translate them into words (unless it's just running off at the keyboard like i do here. something about the enjoyment of using a computer makes things easier some mysterious how to do on/with them then otherwise, even when the actual amount of effort involved is roughly the same). one i thus avoid engauging in more then a very few times a year, if that.

i'm sort of glad for this reason i'm not any sort of celebrity who has all that fan mail to wade through.

Doesn't that mean your dyslexic...just wondering?