Love letters are a form of writing that’s as old as the written word. Even in the modern world, many couples still exchange handwritten love letters.
You can use a love letter to confess your feelings to a new crush, to court someone you recently started dating, or to add more romance to a serious relationship.
So, how do you write a love letter that can truly win someone’s heart?
Read on to learn our top tips for how to write an amazing love letter as well as some examples to inspire you.
What Should You Include in a Love Letter?
Many people are hesitant to write love letters because they’re not sure what to include.
Luckily, there are many topics you can choose from. Here are three tried-and-true topics you can use in your love letter.
Topic 1: A Shared Memory
You can consider writing about a memory you’ve shared with the person you’re writing to.
Think back to all the romantic moments you’ve experienced with this person.
When was the first time you realized you were attracted to this person? What about the first time you realized how much you were in love with them?
Do you have any funny memories together that might make them smile or laugh? Any sweet stories you think you’ll still remember fondly in 50 years?
Topic 2: Reasons Why You Love This Person
Think about all the reasons you love the person you’re writing to.
Maybe you love the way they sing off-key when they’re doing chores. Or the puns they make every time they get an opportunity. Or the dimples they get in their cheeks when they smile.
Or maybe they’ve changed your life for the better, and nothing’s the same now as it used to be.
Chances are, the person you’re writing to knows you love them, but not necessarily why you love them. Listing the reasons is a surefire way to remind them how much you care.
Topic 3: Plans for the Future
So far, the topics we’ve discussed all have something to do with the past or the present.
Another fantastic option is to look toward the future.
Write about what you hope your relationship with this person will look like in a few years or even when you grow old together.
Do you hope to live in an apartment in a big city, in a large house in the suburbs, or in a cabin in the mountains? Do you hope to achieve your career dreams together? Do you want to have kids or pets?
A shared vision for the future is a strong foundation for a healthy relationship. Tell them about your vision and what you’ll do to make that vision come true.
How to Start a Love Letter
You can begin writing your letter with a sweet greeting, such as:
- To my soul mate
- To my darling
- To my best friend
- Dear [favorite pet name]
After the greeting, you can start writing the body of the letter by stating the reason you’re writing. Is there a special occasion, or did you just want to express your feelings?
You could say something like, “I’m writing this because it’s our first anniversary, and I’m so grateful we’ve had this amazing year together.”
Or you could say, “You’ve been so supportive of me during my big promotion, and I realized that I don’t tell you often enough all the reasons I love you.”
Once you’ve explained your reason for writing the letter, you can dive right into the contents of the letter.
3 Tips for Writing a Love Letter
Now that we’ve covered what to include in a love letter, let’s talk about some tips for how to do it well.
Tip 1: Be Specific
One common pitfall when writing a love letter is to write a generic one. If you could give this love letter to any of the people you’ve ever dated and still have it work the same way, then it’s probably not the best love letter.
You don’t want your love letter to just be a longer version of “I love you, baby” or “You’re the best partner ever.”
Make your love letter one that could only work between you and the person you’re writing to.
One way to do this is by referring to special memories and personality traits that are specific to the person you’re writing about. You can also include some inside jokes only your partner would understand.
The more specific your letter is, the more likely your partner is to be touched by the gesture.
Tip 2: Be Appropriate
Make sure your love letter is appropriate for the amount of time you’ve been together and how well you know this person.
If you’ve only been dating someone for a week, for example, you probably shouldn’t write about how many kids you hope to have with them. That’s a red flag that will probably scare them away.
Similarly, if you haven’t used the word “love” with this person before, you might not want to drop it for the first time in a letter, unless there’s a reason you can’t do it in person.
Tip 3: Be Genuine
The most important thing to remember is to write your love letter from the heart.
Don’t write things you think will impress the person you’re writing to, such as flowery quotes you didn’t come up with yourself. Instead, write things in your own voice, even if they sound simpler.
Remember that it’s okay to be vulnerable and share things you’re afraid to say out loud. A love letter is the perfect time to tell the naked truth.
Best Love Letter Ideas and Examples
The best way to learn how to write a love letter is by looking at great examples. Here are a few examples of love letters from real people you can use for inspiration.
Example #1: A Letter from Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera
“Diego,
Nothing compares to your hands, nothing like the green-gold of your eyes. My body is filled with you for days and days. You are the mirror of the night. The violent flash of lightning. The dampness of the earth. The hollow of your armpits is my shelter. My fingers touch your blood.
All my joy is to feel life spring from your flower-fountain that mine keeps to fill all the paths of my nerves which are yours.”
Example #2: A Letter from Johnny Cash to His Wife June
“Happy Birthday Princess,
We get old and get used to each other. We think alike. We read each other’s minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes we take each other for granted.
But once in a while, like today, I meditate on it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met. You still fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You’re the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much. Happy Birthday Princess.”
Example #3: A Letter from Prince Albert to His Wife Queen Victoria
“Dearest deeply loved Victoria, I need not tell you that since we left, all my thoughts have been with you at Windsor, and that your image fills my whole soul. Even in my dreams I never imagined that I should find so much love on earth. How that moment shines for me still when I was close to you, with your hand in mine. Those days flew by so quickly, but our separation will fly equally so. Ernest [my brother] wishes me to say a thousand nice things to you. With promises of unchanging love and devotion, Your ever true Albert.”
Example #4: A Letter from Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf
“I am reduced to a thing that wants Virginia. I composed a beautiful letter to you in the sleepless nightmare hours of the night, and it has all gone: I just miss you, in a quite simple desperate human way. You, with all your un-dumb letters, would never write so elementary phrase as that; perhaps you wouldn’t even feel it. And yet I believe you’ll be sensible of a little gap. But you’d clothe it in so exquisite a phrase that it would lose a little of its reality. Whereas with me it is quite stark: I miss you even more than I could have believed; and I was prepared to miss you a good deal. So this letter is just really a squeal of pain. It is incredible how essential to me you have become. I suppose you are accustomed to people saying these things. Damn you, spoilt creature; I shan’t make you love me any the more by giving myself away like this—But oh my dear, I can’t be clever and stand-offish with you: I love you too much for that. Too truly. You have no idea how stand-offish I can be with people I don’t love. I have brought it to a fine art. But you have broken down my defences. And I don’t really resent it …”
Example #5: A Letter from Orson Welles to Rita Hayworth
“Dearest Angel Girl:
...I suppose most of us are lonely in this big world, but we must fall tremendously in love to find it out. The cure is the discovery of our need for company—I mean company in the very special sense we’ve come to understand since we happened to each other—you and I. The pleasures of human experience are emptied away without that companionship—now that I’ve known it; without it joy is just as unendurable as sorrow. You are my life—my very life. Never imagine your hope approximates what you are to me. Beautiful, precious little baby—hurry up the sun!—make the days shorter till we meet. I love you, that’s all there is to it.
Your boy,
Orson”
How ProWritingAid Can Help You Write a Love Letter
There’s nothing more unattractive than bad grammar.
Okay, so that’s not entirely true. There are probably some things that are less attractive, like terrible dental hygiene.
Even so, you should avoid writing love letters that are riddled with typos and grammar mistakes.
So, before you send your letter, run it through ProWritingAid first. ProWritingAid will highlight any errors and inconsistencies so you can fix them with a single click.
Conclusion on How to Write a Love Letter
There you have it—our complete guide to writing a personal love letter.
If you’re in a long-term relationship, you can write multiple love letters throughout the years—for example, one on each anniversary or one each time you go on a trip together—to create a treasured collection that can remind you of your relationship when you look back.
Good luck, and happy writing!
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