Writer Shares How to Craft Love Letters

By Amber Lester Kennedy Monday, February 14, 2011

In October, Hal Gieseking was convinced romance was dead in Williamsburg.

The long-time freelance writer was offering a class in writing love letters through the James City County Parks and Recreation Department, but the class was cancelled due to low enrollment. “There were so many nonromantics during that period,” he said, laughing, on Friday.

Today, however, is a different story. For Valentine’s Day, WYDaily asked Gieseking to share his advice for crafting knee-quivering, heartstrings-pulling love letters for that special someone. He ought to know; he worked in advertising.

Gieseking credits his way with words to his years spent working at famed advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather during the golden age of advertising portrayed on AMC’s “Mad Men.” He spent his days writing copy for American Express and IBM, but spent his remaining hours writing love letters to the savvy New York City women he tried to win over. “I was single for many years, so I wrote many love letters,” he said. “I learned essentially what it meant to be caring about other people and I learned that love letters aren’t just for the women you’re dating. You can write love letters you’d send to your friends.”

Gieseking’s tips are simple. First, always put pen to paper. “Don’t type them,” he said. “It’s much more sincere if you handwrite them. And don’t e-mail them! It’s too mechanical.”

Second, be specific. “If you can recall special moments in your life together, do that,” Gieseking said. “Say something surprising, like, ‘Some of my proudest moments have been sitting beside you on the bus.’ The cliché is saying, ‘I love you.’ That’s nice, but it’s nice to say something specific.”

He said the same rule applies for love letters to family members or friends. “A love letter should show that you’re aware of the other person. It doesn’t have to be a romantic thing, it could be a friend you’ve had for years,” he said. “The world needs a lot more love letters.”

He added that if there just isn’t time to mail a letter, the act of listening to a person is a love letter in itself.

Gieseking has spent the last 18 years writing love letters to his wife, Margie, and said it’s been an important part of their relationship. “Marriage is not as simple as one might think,” he said. “You have to constantly show that you appreciate the person and remember what they do for you.”

He was recently moved by the story of a love letter that he read online. A woman dying from cancer had written a letter to her husband to say goodbye. “She wrote, ‘Now that there’s a veil coming between us, you have to remember when you need me, just go to your heart and I’ll be there,’” he said. “That really struck me!”

To read some love letters from famous folks like Ronald Reagan, King Henry VIII and Amelia Earhart, visit Letters of Note.