April 21, 2024

Welcome to our PopUp Letters Trellis. We are a community group dedicated to the art and craft of writing letters.  All the activities are free of charge to the participants because our expenses are supported by grants and donations. We invite you to write a letter to a loved one or friend.  Materials are here for you, and we offer guidance to get you started.  So what does that look like?  Beyond the basic format of letter and envelope, this handout gives examples of how we might guide you through the process of writing.  We’ve broken it down into categories from past experiences and hope that you present your own challenge to us today. 

We love to talk letters!

Love Letter: One morning, a man approached our tent with an inquisitive look on his face.  He wondered if he should pen a letter to a potential love interest, but explained that they actually only had one date together.  As he considered his message, he asked how to express his enthusiasm for their relationship without being overly familiar.  We exchanged a volley of ideas for words and phrases that ultimately led the writer to focus more specifically on aspects he had learned about this person in order to show he had listened to her story and wanted to know more about the activities and interests she enjoyed. 

Letter Delays: Have you ever written or received a letter that was long overdue?  When writing this letter, it is tempting to give a laundry list of reasons for the delay in writing.  With the absence of letters being exchanged today, we assure you that these tardy excuses are unnecessary and may not even leave room for your intended message.  Express these apologetic reasons aloud and then let them go.  Start your letter with the reason for writing and let it flow from there.  It will be refreshing to read your thoughts without the extra “baggage”.  On that note, think of your writing as a carry-on, with the essential ideas and thoughts that augment them.

The Gift of Letters: One of our core beliefs is that letters are a gift to the recipient.  When someone receives a handwritten letter, they know that it represents dedicated time from the writer to connect with them.  In a world that is increasingly impersonal, a letter reminds the reader they are valued by the writer. 

Movie Theatre: In Rebecca Shafir’s book The Zen of Listening, the author speaks of “approaching a listening opportunity with the same abandonment as we do at the movies”.  Her discussion relates to the focused attention we give to understanding the story of the characters in a film.  With the blackened room surrounding the screen, we block out all but the action in the movie.  This analogy can be reflected in your writing because your one-sided written conversation is based on your specific knowledge of the person you are writing.  No one else has had the same interactions, conversations, and experiences that can reflect the unique connection between you. You can bring your reader a reminder of what they mean to you.  You can also use your message to ask their impressions of something you have shared. They take the starring role on the “script” you create with your writing.    

Each of the areas above are brief summaries and we can provide additional explanations and suggestions to help you with the content of your message.  Please let us know how we can assist you. 

We hope you will stop and take a seat at one of our writing areas.  All completed letters will be stamped and posted.  We think you will enjoy every aspect of this event – the planning of who you will write, the comfortable time and space to capture your thoughts, some writing ideas to get you started, and the joy of awaiting a response from your intended reader.   

[2024-04-17 updated]

The Purple Couch Bookshop  

Letters Pop-up on Sunday, April 21 from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m.