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Oct 1, 2014

Writing 101: To Whom it May Concern

Pick up the nearest book and flip to page 29. What jumps out at you? Start there, and try a twist: write in the form of a letter.

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Pick up the nearest book and flip to page 29. What’s the first word that jumps off the page? Use this word as your springboard for inspiration. If you need a boost, Google the word and see what images appear, and then go from there. 

Today’s twist: write the post in the form of a letter.

You have a number of options: you can write a letter to the word or an image, or an open letter to the world inspired by the word. You could pen a series of imaginary notes between you and a friend, or between two fictional characters, or between old you and young you.

Using a letter format can help you find new ways to build engaging scenes and stories. If your word was “Monday,” you could write:

I have a bad case of the Mondays.

But you could also write:

Dear Monday,

I admit it: I’m never happy to see you. I dread you in the morning, and on the drive to work, and from what I see on my Facebook feed, no one else likes you either.

Get it together, Monday.

Sincerely,
Me

(Hat tip to Cheri for this brilliant summation of Mondays.)

For more inspiration, check out some of our favorite letters published on WordPress.com. We especially love this one addressed to cancer, and this note to a pair of boobs.

Want some constructive critique or camaraderie? Head to The Commons.

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  4. A letter to Monday gets my attention too – thanks! From there, I would write about Monday the person, as a real character with an unusual name. A person that nobody likes – why? What have they done?

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  8. Thanks so much for the inclusion Michelle! My Open Letter to My Boobs got a spike in views and I wondered where it was coming from. I’ve been thinking about how they might respond…. 😉

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  9. Alright, here’s mine. It’s part of the series I’m working on so I’ve linked all the clips on here leading up to this scene in order for those who want to read it all. Big question, do you get why the last sentence is such a big deal? More personal question if you feel like sharing, have you had an ex who’s name you simply could not say without it always feeling like a big deal? http://amiecuscuriae.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/writing-101-to-whom-it-may-concern/

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  12. Wow. The letters from @drkategranger to her cancer are so powerful and so well written. She is dying and yet I am inspired. They left me in awe of her writing, her courage and her humanity. My first thoughts were that I should skip this assignment and give up writing. Instead I opened a Russell Bank’s book to the word “swim”. I’ve been drifting with my cancer, time to start swimming. Thank you for this assignment and the introduction to Kate’s blog.

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  20. Thank you for the prompt about writing to a fictional character, I have already done so picked up a word which stood out in a book and was fun writing as images kept flooding into my mind. I may make this my own style of writing because there was so much which I wanted to write about . Ideas kept flowing into my mind. It was really inspiring.I will see where this takes me. Thanks again.

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