With National Card and Letter Writing Month here, I thought I’d round up some great letter-writing resources.  There are others, of course, but the handful of books below address a variety of aspects of letter-writing.

The Basics: Writing a Letter or Note

The Art of the Handwritten NoteThe Art of the Personal Letter: A Guide to Connecting Through the Written Word

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The Art of the Handwritten Note and The Art of the Personal Letter are helpful for addressing the overall subject of writing, either short notes or longer letters, respectively.  (That picture on the left is terrible; sorry.  It’s what’s up at Amazon, apparently.)  These touch on the etiquette, methods, preparation, etc.  I’ve written a review of The Art of the Personal Letter here, and there’s a brief bit about The Art of the Handwritten Note at the bottom of that post, as well.

When You Don’t Know What to Say

Words to the Rescue: The sentiment guide for the tongue tied. 1000 thoughtful things to write on the card when you don’t have a clue.Words to the Rescue 2: The sentiment guide for the tongue tied. 1000 more things to write on the card when you don’t have a clue

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When you don’t know what to say, you need a book of inspiration.  Words to the Rescue and Words to the Rescue 2 are some of my favorites, because they’re clean and I like the organization.

Making Beautiful Lettering

The Botanical Hand Lettering Workbook: Draw Whimsical and Decorative Styles and ScriptsCreative Lettering: Techniques & Tips from Top Artists

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Lovely lettering is, admittedly, not really “my thing.”  I’d like to be better at it, but the ideas never seem to really “stick.”  Often I can copy something, but I can’t remember the options well enough to come up with an idea on the spot.

If you’re like me and you want to learn more, or if you’re just a lover of letters and want more inspiration, books like Botanical Hand-Lettering or Creative Lettering might be up your alley.  The former is more of a how-to; the latter is more inspiration.  (There are a couple others, too: Creative Lettering and Beyond, and Hand Lettering for Everyone, that look good but I haven’t had a chance to look at in person.)

If You Want to Make Your Own Cards

The Cardmaker’s Workbook: The Complete Guide to Design, Color, and Construction Techniques for Beautiful CardsThe Complete Photo Guide to Cardmaking: More than 800 Large Color Photos

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If you want to make your own cards, there are a lot of resources available.  Many of them, though, are either very specific (with just a few tutorials for particular cards, or limited to a particular technique) or they’re complicated enough that most of us just aren’t interested.  The Cardmaker’s Workbook is a nice “overall” cardmaking book, though.  It certainly doesn’t have everything, but it introduces the reader to a number of concepts, like certain layouts, color schemes, etc. that are broadly applicable.  And most of them are not over-the-top complicated.

I’m told that The Complete Photo Guide to Cardmaking is a an even better option; it is apparently the same “overall” type of approach, but newer and updated.

Do you have a favorite letter- or card-related book?  Share it in the comments!