{"id":502,"date":"2013-11-12T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T00:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janetkayfetz.wordpress.com\/?p=434"},"modified":"2013-11-12T00:00:03","modified_gmt":"2013-11-12T00:00:03","slug":"writing-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"

The name of my blog is \u201cThe art and craft of writing and speaking.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve focused my discussions mostly on the academic world. For writing, that includes looking at many of the things we need to think about when we write a formal academic text.<\/p>\n

But what about other wonderful kinds of writing? Like the art of letter writing? I experience a different kind of joy when I pick up a pen and write a letter than I do when I use a keyboard to write an email or ecard.<\/p>\n

Please enjoy this lovely piece<\/a> on writing — and receiving — letters.<\/p>\n

**************<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cYesterday morning, I sat at my desk, took out pen and paper, an envelope and a roll of stamps and began to write. No, I wasn\u2019t mailing a check or returning an online purchase \u2014 or recreating a scene from a Jane Austen novel. I was writing a letter.<\/p>\n

This activity has become a weekly ritual for me, as I keep regular correspondence with several faraway loved ones. It started last year, with a postcard that my mother sent me \u2014 I taped it up next to my desk as a reminder to write back. Over time, my address book has grown to include friends of many different ages and locations: a girl from my high school now attending college in Ohio, cousins and aunts in Montana, a woman who I know well who lives in my home neighborhood. My wall is now covered with a collage of bright postcard photos and pages full of curling dark script . . .<\/p>\n

The vast majority of students probably haven\u2019t written and mailed a letter since the days of post-birthday-party thank-you notes. It\u2019s true that our culture has fully shifted away from this by now \u2014 and of course, this is partially for good reason. It\u2019s impossible to deny that it\u2019s actually much faster and more effective to keep in touch with people via text, email or Facebook. But there\u2019s still something to be said for keeping actual physical correspondence, intentionally choosing to forego the ease of the computer in order to have a more meaningful exchange of ideas.<\/p>\n

Writing a letter isn\u2019t something that you can just dash off in a few minutes, replete with misspellings and abbreviations \u2014 you have to actually grab a piece of paper, sit down at a desk and think a bit first. The simple act of choosing to write a letter already shows an investment in your interaction with the person to whom you\u2019re sending it, that you have something worthwhile to say and have taken the time to do so in a full and complete manner.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s something to the materiality of a letter, the thrill of unfolding the piece of paper and knowing that another set of hands far away has held it too. Unlike emails, letters aren\u2019t in danger of disappearing into cyberspace with one false click. My mother still has a box full of the letters she sent to her parents in college, which she let me look through over the summer. Leafing through the pages, I could see the development of the handwriting, as well as of the woman who wrote with it. Somehow a folder of emails just doesn\u2019t have that same effect . . .<\/p>\n

[There\u2019s] just something about opening my P.O. box each week to find a stack of thick, handwritten envelopes, which no high-pitched ping or Facebook notification tone will ever be able to match. And it would be irresponsible of our generation to sacrifice this simple pleasure entirely, for the sake of mere convenience.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From A Weekly Ritual<\/em>, by Emma Fallone. In The Yale Daily News<\/span>, Nov. 8, 2013. http:\/\/yaledailynews.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/08\/fallone-a-weekly-ritual\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The name of my blog is \u201cThe art and craft […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts","category-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nWriting Letters - wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writing Letters - wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The name of my blog is \u201cThe art and craft […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-12T00:00:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Janet Kayfetz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Janet Kayfetz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/\",\"name\":\"Writing Letters - wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-12T00:00:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#\/schema\/person\/d57a15b7e4cdd33103cc9b33a4c44fea\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Writing Letters\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/\",\"name\":\"wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#\/schema\/person\/d57a15b7e4cdd33103cc9b33a4c44fea\",\"name\":\"Janet Kayfetz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/97a5703ea4a38c72f533eb9f4f445335?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/97a5703ea4a38c72f533eb9f4f445335?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Janet Kayfetz\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/author\/janet\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Writing Letters - wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Writing Letters - wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com","og_description":"The name of my blog is \u201cThe art and craft […]","og_url":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/","og_site_name":"wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com","article_published_time":"2013-11-12T00:00:03+00:00","author":"Janet Kayfetz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Janet Kayfetz","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/","url":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/","name":"Writing Letters - wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-11-12T00:00:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#\/schema\/person\/d57a15b7e4cdd33103cc9b33a4c44fea"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/writing-letters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Writing Letters"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#website","url":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/","name":"wasatchfrontwasteandrecyclingdistrict.qrplanet.com","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#\/schema\/person\/d57a15b7e4cdd33103cc9b33a4c44fea","name":"Janet Kayfetz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/97a5703ea4a38c72f533eb9f4f445335?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/97a5703ea4a38c72f533eb9f4f445335?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Janet Kayfetz"},"url":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/author\/janet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riggscreative.com\/clients\/dev1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}