The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-11-08
DESK STUDIES FOR GIRLS:
GOOD LETTERS.
II. GOOD LETTERS AND HOW TO
WRITE THEM.

cry, but one of heart and spirit. You
cannot fool people in letter any more
] than in your conversation A good lei
ter must have harmony and melody and
sweetness. II must have a genuine
! ring. 1t must exhibit the personality of
! the writer. 1t may be reserved, or dig
nified or ocular or friendly, accord
ing to the relations between the writer
and the person addressed. but it must
be honest and kind. To produce an all
around good letter the following ten
things are needed:
! l. a good. honest, kindly heart
! .. a correspondent worth writing to-
3. An abundance of good news.
4. An easy style of expression
| 8. A knowledge of the relation of
words.
6. Good paper. ink and pen.
| Z. The ability TO write neatly.
s. The ability 10 spell correctly.
! 9. A convenient and undisturbed time.
| 10. Things that fit comfortably.
These are all easy except the spelling.
You cannot write happy letter I'M
/ less you feel happy. Your temperament
will be almost as evident in your cor
respondence as in your conversation
/ not necessarily in the words you use,
but in a certain intuitive impression
which your letter is sure to create. This
| fact is not easy of explanation. but it
is nevertheless true. If seasons of I'M
happiness are allowed free course they
are sure to faint your correspondence,
and perhaps your friendships. Be frank,
outspoken, honest in your letters. as in
your converse ton. There must be no
vacillating of purpose. If you have
anything TO say which ought to be said,
say it. but say it kindly. If honesty
costs friendships. better lose the friend
ships than be dishonest. Put your own
individuality into your letters. Let the
letter be your letter. a mirror of your
self. 1t is comforting to recognize our
friends even in their correspondence.
Select a correspondent who is worth
writing to. OF course it is possible TO
write good letters to bad people, and
perhaps it is they who need good letters
most: but when we are obliged to write
to undeserving people we do j. more as
a matter of duty. We are not known by
the friends we decline to keep. but
rather by the friends we keep. If their
personality and character are stronger
than ours they help us to measure up.
The correspondence is to our advan-
tage. We gather inspiration and en-
couragement from their lives. In max
ing your list of correspondents don't
| forget the old, neglected friends-the
old uncle or aunt, or the old friend of
your fathers or of your mothers, who
gotten for months at time. Don't
forget the schoolgirl chum of your ear
lier years, who has perhaps been less
fortunate than you. In short, don't be
selfish.
If you have no good news to COM
municate. of course you cannot easily
incorporate any in your letter. but there
is a happy way of making good news
out of little and discouraging things
III your letter is simply reply to one
which has been on your desk for weeks
and which you have procrastinated
about many times, you will probably
approach the task in the attitude of
one who is about to pay worrying
DILL Such letters are about as heart
less and speeches. as are calling cards
handed to liveried doorkeepers. They
square accounts, that is all. A business
letter or a letter containing business
inquiries requires prompt answer, but
friendship letters should not be based
upon the same mathematical equation.
Write because you want to write not
because you have a letter to answer
Fill your letter with the brightness and
cheer of your own life. If it crosses a
letter from your correspondent so much
the better; there will be two people
agreeably surprised. BE of good cheer
is a much more encouraging greeting
than How do you do?'
Don't omit saying kind things for
fear OF making mistakes in grammar
The grammar is of trifiing account
compared with the thought and spirit.
So much the better if you can use cor
rect English and appropriate words,
but just so sure as you attempt liter
airy style or work at it, just so sure
will your letter be a miserable failure
The more you write the better You will
be able to write. Avoid the stilted stiff
ness which is so common between the
ages of girlhood and womanhood. Chill
dren and old people always write ex-
cellent letters. They need no cautions
or directions. Use capital letters where
necessary, punctuate once in awhile
and avoid the common errors of speech
which are likely to CRATE on the nerves.
but don't stop to analyze and parse
your sentences. Go right ahead. as in
your conversation. giving good meas
ure, pressed down, shaken together and
running over
The paper should be white. or. if
tinted, it should be of a very light
shade. The ordinary four-page note is
the most convenient and most COM
monty used size. Avoid odd and unusual
shapes Learn TO write upon unruled
paper. Very little practice will enable
you to keep your lines straight and
regular. Good paper is not expensive.
You cannot possibly make letter look
well on leaf torn out of an old ac-
count book
Use black or blue-black ink. Thick
Oily INK and scratchy pen are not ac-
compartments of good humor The
penmanshlp should be characteristic of
yourself. 1t makes no difference Wbeth-
er 1t is vertical or slanting. large or
small, heavy or light. so long as il is
easily read and looks WELL Even had
writing. if in straight and regular lines
may present a fairly respectable an
pearance. The best results are pro.
duced with stub pen and bold hand
Don cross-hatch' your letter. 1t
makes annoying reading. 1t is not
quite as stingy looking as TO write
social news on postal card, but there
isn't much difference. The principle. or
lack of il, is the same. The friendship
which is weighed between a postal and
a 2-cent stamp is certainly weighed i'm
the balance
Do your best with the spelling. IT is
a department of education which can
not be rushed. If you are poor speJIer
you Will have many embarrassing mo-
ments and very little sympathy. Keen
Il small dictionary near by; there is no
SAFER RUE. But don't leave any good
thing out of your letter simply because
you cannot spell it.
Choose convenient time. You can
not write your best if you feel All fha
while that you ought to be doing some
thing else. any more than q lady can
talk her best to the afternoon caller
when she knows all the while that the
dessert for dinner is boiling over. II
isn't necessary to dress specially for
the exercise, and yet you will write
better II your roor: and your desk and
-f.If -. i'll.