On Letter Writing

C. S. Lewis was definitely a man of letters. His 3 volume collection of letters is over 3000 pages (while not exhaustive or too generous on white space). The introduction, by Walter Hooper, had two interesting notes on letter writing I'll share.


One: The auditory rhythm is important:

"When Lewis dictated letters to me, he always had me read them aloud afterwards. He told me that in writing letters, as well as books, he always 'whispered the words aloud.' Pausing to dip the pin in an inkwell provided exactly the rhythm needed. 'It's as important to please the ear,' he said, 'as it is the eye.'"

While he didn't always please the eye (in terms of legibility), it's hard to deny that he's readable. In fact, I just reread the previous sentence and found it read better with an edit. Point, Lewis.

Two: Having something to say sure is nice:

"Jack wrote to him [his brother Warnie] in March 1921, 'Perhaps one of the reasons why letters are so hard to write and so much harder to read is that people confine themselves to news - in other words think nothing worthing writing except that which would not be worth saying.'"

It seems like there are two types of things one can discuss: news and ideas. Perhaps the better letters have both.



Now, write me a letter.