One letter can change your life — or someone else’s.

Can writing a letter change your life?

I think so.

Early in my career, I landed a copywriting project with an award-winning marketing agency — even though I was very young and inexperienced at the time — because I wrote a follow-up note that caught the director’s attention.

– Last year, I got hired by a major technology corporation — the highest-paying writing project of my entire year — because I left a handwritten “thank you” note in a beach cottage that I had rented for a short vacation… which was later discovered by the company’s HR director. (She owned the house. I had no idea.)

– After meeting my sweetheart, we corresponded through letters, postcards and emails for the first three weeks of our new relationship. I was traveling out of town, teaching workshops in other cities. It was a powerful way to connect — slowly, thoughtfully, honestly. Letters brought us closer together.

These are just three examples from my own life.

How about you?

Can you think of a time in your life where writing — or receiving — a letter unlocked a new opportunity, enhanced a friendship, helped you make a difficult choice, or helped you fall more deeply in love?

How long has it been since you sat down and wrote a heartfelt letter to someone you admire, someone you care about, someone you know, or want to know better?

Maybe… it’s time to write a few more letters.

Feeling a little rusty? Not sure if you’ll be able to get the words flowing?

Good news: I’ve created a free digital booklet all about the art of letter writing.

This booklet is called One Letter Today.

You can download it here. It’s totally free.

(It’s basically the “book version” of a similar e-course that I created last January, in celebration of Universal Letter Writing Week.)

The booklet contains writing tips and templates to help you craft 7 different types of letters — a love letter, a fan letter, a thank you letter, a letter filled with heartfelt advice, and more — plus excerpts from some of history’s greatest letters from Ernest Hemingway, Neil A. Armstrong, Oscar Wilde, Maya Angelou, and many others.

This booklet is a very fun, gentle initiation into starting a “daily writing practice,” not to mention, a great excuse to reconnect with old — and new — friends.

Write letters… because it’s the holidays, because it feels good, because it’s uplifting, because it’s a simple way to create a beautiful ripple effect in the world.

Who knows where that ripple may lead?

-Alex