Some readers submitted the first line of some love letters they’ve received:
Seeing you takes my breath away…
There’s something new and different in the way I feel with you…It got me thinking if I were to write a love letter (which I haven’t in a while), how would I start it off? The danger with writing in general is the allure of bombast, i.e., using talk that dwarfs the size of your brain. (I wish the friend that asked me to teach her to write like her could see this post, *sigh*.) Letter-writing, though, is more emotional than it is analytical; yet, ironically, it’s one of the hardest things to write. So, if I were to write a love letter, here’s how I’d start off:
Dear Melissa,
Your name is an echo inside of my head. Melissa… Melissa… Melissa. And despite the labyrinth of thought that clutters my mind, it’s a reverberation as clear as its original source, and a continuous, euphonious clarity that makes it impossible to think of anything else.That last sentence was Faulkner-esque. But I’m more adept to poetry writing. And this was just me trying my hand at an all-but-lost art. As always, not just for matters of the heart, send me an ask. Make my inbox your altar. This has been a rare text entry. Goodnight. Or good morning, afternoon—depending on where you are in the world, lol.
