BROADCASTS.com

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\nDear Writer,
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\nIt\u2019s easy to freeze up when we\u2019re writing for the faceless masses or the random reader who happens upon our words.
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\nWhat do we say to all those people? How can we speak with heart to a total stranger?
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\nNext thing you know, we second-guess our ideas, our prose, our very selves. We fade to beige without saying what we really think, without being specific, without our signature wit and whimsy. 
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\nWhat would that random person who doesn\u2019t even know me think if I crack a joke?
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\nWe lose our creativity, our passion, our joy.
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\nWe freeze. We get stuck. 
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\nWe\u2019re afraid to stand out, so we play it safe. We write dull, ordinary prose that could be penned by anyone at all, even ChatGPT.
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\nUnlock Your Creative Voice: Write a Letter to Your Reader
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\nOne way to unlock creativity is to write a letter\u2014a letter to your reader.
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\nAnd not just any nameless, faceless reader but a specific person you actually know.
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\nDear Anthony\u2026
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\nDear Paula\u2026
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\nDear Lissa\u2026
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\nWhen you think of the kind of person you\u2019re trying to reach with your words, does Lissa fit?
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\nGood. 
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\nNow, write her a letter about a question or struggle that she herself has voiced. 
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\nWeave in ideas that can help. 
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\nEncourage her with a vulnerable story.
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\nAdd a little pizzazz that only you can include\u2014after all, she knows you. She\u2019ll grin at your joke and \u201cget\u201d your allusion.
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\nWhen you\u2019re done, you can send her the note, if you want.
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\nOr you can cross out Lissa\u2019s name and replace it with the type of person you write for:
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\nDear Weary Homeschool Mom\u2026
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\nDear New Gardener\u2026
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\nDear Journaler\u2026
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\nIf that feels awkward to publish, cross off the salutation altogether. 
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\nDear Anthony\u2026
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\nDear Paula\u2026
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\nDear Lissa\u2026
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\nI\u2019ll bet you can find a great hook in your opening lines, and the letter-writing trick disarmed you enough to write fresh and real and personable.
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\nWriting a Letter to Your Reader Frees Your Natural Voice
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\nFrom the writer\u2019s perspective, writing a letter to your reader can remove that feeling of writing to the faceless masses and instead invite an easy tone and thoughts that convey empathy and intimacy.
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\nJ. Willis Westlake, author of an 1800s book about letter-writing, says:
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\nIn other [writing] productions there is the restraint induced by the feeling that a thousand eyes are peering over the writer\u2019s shoulder and scrutinizing every word; while letters are written when the mind is as it were in dressing-gown and slippers \u2014 free, natural, active, perfectly at home, and with all the fountains of fancy, wit, and sentiment in full play.1
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\nBy tricking your mind into donning its dressing-gown and slippers, you can achieve that \u201cfree, natural, active, perfectly at home\u201d tone, style, and voice. Your readers will love reading your \u201cfancy, wit, and sentiment in full play.\u201d
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\nGenuine Letters Contain Our Most Interesting Content
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\nAnd it\u2019s not just our style, tone, and voice that letters unleash; it\u2019s also the content itself.
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\nWestlake continues,