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10 Things You Need to Do to Write a Letter

10 Things You Need to Do to Write a Letter

1. PUT YOUR CELL PHONE DOWN!
2. Don’t worry about what you write, just write.
3. Don’t worry about what you are writing on, just write.
4. Don’t worry about how long you think it should be or want it to be, just write.
5. PUT YOUR CELL PHONE DOWN!!!
6. Don’t worry about it being perfect, it isn’t supposed to be.
7. Don’t try to be clever. Be honest.
8. Don’t try to write like someone else.Thankfully, you will always fail at this if you are doing it right.
9. Don’t wait to mail it when you are done. Things get misplaced easily.
10. Look at your cell phone. See? It’s doing fine without you.

Mission statement

I believe that there is a longing for analogue communication. At our core, we ourselves are homo sapiens and we need to engage as many senses as possible to be fully human. The digital simulacrum will never truly feed us as we truly need and it is up to us to keep the form of personal letter writing alive.

2016 DC Pen Show Handout

2016 Seminar notes on the Art of Personal Letter Writing

By Michael Kovacs

Ten Rules for Letter Writing

1. Write letters.
2. Letters are a conversation in slow motion between two people. Treat it as such.
3. No one HAS to write back. If they do, it is a gift. Respect it as such.
4. No one can tell you how to write. Conversely, you are not allowed to tell anyone how they should be writing you.
5. Write letters.
6. You must make the choice between what you choose more: content or presentation.
7. If someone does not write back, send a postcard asking how they are doing and if they got the letter. If there is no reply, respect the silence and keep going on with life.
8. To quote Charles Bukowski, as the spirit wanes, the form rises. You are not obliged to follow any strict form in personal letter writing. If you wish to do so fine, but that is a personal choice.
9. Unless otherwise stated or understood, letters are between the sender and reader. Respect that privacy.
10. Oh yeah, did I mention WRITE LETTERS!

  

Ten Rules for Stationery Making

1. Decide if you are a more verbal or visual person. If you feel you express yourself better with your art, incorporate that into the letter.
2. Stationery is not “art” inasmuch as it is functional and is completed visually when a letter is written on it. Consider this when designing stationery.
3. Stationery is FUNCTIONAL. When designing a page, try, at the very least, to leave 51% blank space to be written on.
4. When reading the English language (which is the language for this seminar, but by no means the only one) , the eye tracks from left to write. Designs on the right side of the page tend to be distracting and hinder flow. MOST BASIC AND EASY DESIGN CONCEPT: SOMETHING IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER, SOMETHING IN THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER.
5. If you think about it, most people would rather receive a passionate and heartfelt letter  written in pencil on a legal pad than something written on $20 a page paper and a $1500 Mont Blanc with $40 a bottle ink that has no emotion. Think about it.
6. Stationery can be designed after the letter is written by leaving blank spaces on the page and having designs added to give context to what has or will be written
7. What you are making is being made for an audience of ONE, not for the world to see or care about. Do not put pressure on yourself to make a De Vinci, Van Gogh, or Rothko.
8. You do not need much of anything to make stationery. Basic collage techniques, some ink, some old magazines, and a color copier are all you really need.
9. Every try, ever fail. No matter. Try again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
10. Write Letters.

Ten Rules on Becoming a Better Personal Letter Writer

1. Write letters.
2. The only goal is to have your own voice, that you sound like you and only you. Why? By basic logic, you can only be yourself. Think about it.
3. Read the letters of the greats and see what they do. Hemingway, Iris Murdoch, Vincent Van Gogh, Kurt Vonnegut, Albert Camus, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Rilke, the Letters of the New Testament, etc. They will calibrate your mind towards the flow of the artform.
4. Never EVER criticize the writing of the person writing you in a reply letter! EVER! If you think they could do better, YOU do better. Raise the bar by example, not by criticism.
5. Write letters.
6. Not all letters are the same just as no conversation between different friends are the same. Do not expect something from the other person that the relationship cannot give.
7. Be kind and honest over clever and flashy. Always.
8. Re-write, by hand, passages from letters or books you think are amazing. You need to get the feel of what it means to WRITE things down, not just read them. (Hey, it worked for Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson....)
9. Be patient for a reply. This is not a game for sprinters, but for the long distance runners.
10. Write letters.

Suggested Media:

Music:

Seasons......and other Imperfect Circles:: The Fractal Ensemble

(four spoken word letters are part of the album)

Airmail: Michael Kovacs

Off the album “sacred”

After the Valentines: Mike Kovacs and the Post-Modern Tribe

Rock Opera kinda based on letter writing between people

Books:

Any/ALL letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

(The Romantic Egoists:The Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald)

The Letters of Iris Murdoch

Van Gogh’s Letter to Theo

Letters to a Young Poet: Rilke

Albert Camus’ Letter to his former teacher upon receiving the Nobel Prize

Dear Fatty by Dawn French

Letters of artist W.C.Wyeth

Any books on the letters of Soldiers from any of the Wars

Films/Plays:

The Best of Friends

Collage/Art Books:

There are hundreds on Amazon.com. Take your pick.

Also, go to as many museums as you can and steal ideas.

Design (general):

Color Design: by Jim Krauss (Now Publishing)

Places to find Penpals:

Letter Writing Resources: (online sign up))

League of Extraordinary Penpals (online sign up)

Contact information:

Michael Kovacs

PO Box 200

Old Bridge, NJ 08857   www.postmoderntribe@gmail.com

Yours With Utmost Gratitude for Being Part of  the Journey,

Michael

On letters...

Here is a repost of a video that is the holy grail of letter writing. Enjoy...
\The Best of Friends