Express yourself in a Letter to Your Mom on Mother's Day

Letter writing might seem like a quaint and antiquated activity, like buggy riding, but writing is actually more popular than ever. All you have to do is check out the exponential growth in things like personal blogs, text messaging, and even email.

The trouble is that most of us don't write well. Utilitarian communications are fine in email and blogs. Texting isn't really so much about style as about knowing the coolest abbreviations.

Old-fashioned from-the-heart writing has become almost a thing of the past. That is the reason why a personal card or note from you makes the best Mother's Day present ever.

Have you ever experienced the thrill of finding a greeting card for your mom that had some kind of special connection? The connection could be a name, an event, a character, or a turn of phrase that somehow linked both you and your mom back to that shared memory. You bought the card and considered it a major coup! You may have even noticed that these "connection" type of cards get saved by your mother. That connectionthe shared memory that is jogged by a character or phrase or situationis what writers call a hook.

Finding a greeting card with a hook is tough. Greeting card companies have to make a generic products and generic stuff comes without hooks. You may get lucky and stumble on something with a hook periodically, but you can't count on it.

But you can write with hook.

In fact, you are the only person on earth who can create the perfect Mother's Day card for your mother from you! You are ideally suited to jog those shared memories and convey a true sentiment to her.

A personal note is a cherished gift. First, they're rarer than diamonds! Second, they're unique. In a world of cookie-cutter clothes and jewelry and gifts, a personal note stands alone.

Last but not least, it's not that hard to do ... if you know how.

Most people hate to write and with good reason. English teachers have been scaring people away from writing for centuries. Look at the best-seller list. You'll never find an English teacher on it. Know why? English teachers know the rules. The problem is that great writing is not about rules (if that was true, then most lawyers would be great writers and Shakespeare would be a slacker). Great writing is about the heart.

Great writing gets past the rules (although they're not bad to know) and homes in on the message.

Your note does not have to be long. Short writing is almost always better than long-winded stuff. Your letter does not necessarily have to be warm and fuzzy or sentimental and charming, unless that is how you would like to express yourself.

If you have a funny, off-beat relationship with your mom, don't try to write her a sappy note. It won't ring true. Good writing is also about what sounds real. You need a good hook and some shared memories, things that work between you and your mom. Think of this as the equivalent of an "inside joke."

You also need to express yourself sincerely. One secret to powerful writing is that you should express yourself in writing a bit larger and more grandly than you express yourself in speech -- but using the same tone and message. If you constantly say "I love you" to your mom, write "I love you so much" or "I love you even more today than when I was a little kid." If you never say you love your mom, just "I love you" is sufficient in the note.

Your note has to sound like you, not me or the Hallmark greeting card writer. Make it grander and bigger than normal but not overdone.

Write it by hand. Get some nice paper and find a pen that doesn't leak and write it out in your nicest handwriting or printing. Handwritten notes are truly rare today and almost startle people. I got a hand-written thank-you card the other day from a business person and I was dumbfounded.

Best of all, a handwritten note to your mom on Mother's Day is not difficult, time consuming, or expensive. In fact, you can probably accomplish this incredible feat in the same time or less than you'd spend wandering up and down the mall worrying and looking for a boring gift.