by Danielle Ellis

After receiving our family’s Christmas letter last year, a friend confided that she never knew what to write. She asked me to write an article on writing good Christmas letters, so here is my best advice.

• Write a first draft, then pare it down. One side of one page, 12 point font, with normal margins is plenty. Your friends love you, but don’t share a year’s worth of nitty gritty details in one fell swoop. If someone wants more details, they can ask.

• Use fancy fonts sparingly. Keep them in the titles only. Use one regular font on the bulk of the text. It will be far easier to read.

• Let your personality through. If you love to make rhyming couplets in your letters, it’s okay (It is only one page, right?!)

• Share the fun. Christmas letters are to help you catch up with friends you haven’t seen much during the year. Share details that would help them feel close rather than a brag list of accomplishments, as in “Tommy loves to make his baby sister giggle by making up songs for her.” That’s much more personal and fun than “Tommy’s soccer team won their division title again.”

• Hold off on the detailed medical information. “Mom is still struggling with her lymphoma” is probably enough for a Christmas letter. Ditto for financial details.

• Focus on the bright side. Part of the fun of sharing a Christmas letter with loved ones is taking the time to count your blessings as you write it. Ask the Lord to help you remember them. Your letter will be more meaningful to you and to those who read it.

• Include your current contact info. Include current address, phone numbers and email addresses on the letter so people can stay in touch during the year. They can also throw away the envelope and update address books after the busyness of the holidays.

• Include photos. Whether they are printed on your paper or you include a separate photo, pictures are the best part of Christmas letters.

• Get help. If you don’t know what to say about the kids, ask them what they’d like to say about themselves. (You can still edit it!)

• Be fair. Make sure each family member gets the same number of lines.

• Be polite. Mass letters are not the place to air family laundry. No back-handed compliments, sarcasm or ridicule.

• Consider a New Year’s letter. If you can’t get the letters out before Christmas, relax. Send them the week after and you can include Christmas highlights & photos, plus write personal notes to the folks you’ve already heard from.