With the summer approaching, many people will be writing thank you cards for graduations, weddings, and other special events.  While many consider writing thank-yous antiquated and out of date, I find that it’s a valuable tool for building relationships.

It’s amazing…writing something as short as a thank you card seems to take more time than writing a novel…and it doesn’t need to.

I follow a deceptively simple format when creating a thank you card. It may look a bit like a mad-lib, but it is surprisingly flexible and can be customized or changed in case you’re concerned your recipients will be, ahem, comparing notes.

Dear _________,

I was glad to see you at ___________. It was so good to see all of you–I especially liked it when _____________ did __________.

Thanks also for your gift–I expect to use the _________ for __________. This will _________.

I hope this finds you well, and that I see you again soon!

Thanks,

_____________________

I often receive compliments on how well-written my thank-you cards are written.  The reason my approach works is that I recognize the giver as a person, not merely someone who gave me a gift.  And again, it’s deceptively easy to do–and you can do it too!

Notice how the thank-you starts with an appeal to the person.  This also shows that you value the giver more than the gift, since you mention it right away.  In my opinion, the giver is more important than the gift–friendship is the greatest gift I could ever receive.

Mentioning a certain event that occurred during the party/celebration will help you to show the giver even more that you appreciate them.  In general, people understand that it’s hard to visit with everyone at the party, though you usually do have time to talk briefly with everyone.  Showing them that you remember they were present helps them feel valued.

Since general templates are easy to find, here’s a few examples for different events.  Watch for some of the subtle customizations that help personalize the message for each situation.

Graduation:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell,

I was glad to see you at my graduation party. It was so good to see both of you–I especially liked it when you described the way your cat escaped and jumped into the cake at your son Jack’s party last year.  I laughed…until I saw my own cat sneaking out of my room not five minutes later.  I was quick to shoo her back into my room!

Thanks also for your gift–I expect to use the money towards my college expenses. This will make it much easier for me to survive my first year of college.

I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Thanks,

Suzy Collegebound

Wedding:

Dear Tom, Lisa, and Johnny,

I was glad you were able to share Tim and my wedding day. It was so good to see all of you–I especially liked it when Johnny and Sally were dancing with Tim and I at our first dance.  They looked so cute!  Luckily, the photographer caught several photos of this special moment, so I’ll be sending a copy your way soon!

Thanks also for your gift–I expect to use the toaster for breakfast every morning. We’ll be thinking of you every time we use it.

I hope this finds you well, and that I see you again soon.  I’ll give you a call so we can continue catching up!

Thanks,

Tim and Sue Newlywed

And a special event:

Dear Frank,

I was glad I was able to attend your recent presentation on “How to give a good presentation”.  I especially liked your insight that “Bullet-points are the death of any presentation”!  Now if I could only convince my manager…

Thanks also for choosing my name out of the hat at the end of your presentation. Your book, “Present Well or DIE!” will serve me well as I try to improve my presentation skills.

I hope this finds you well, and that I’m able to attend another one of your sessions soon!

Thanks,

John deAudience

Though all three of these thank-you messages follow the same format, each one appears much different–that’s the power of personalization!  Adapting the template helps you to write thank-yous quickly, without sacrificing the personal side of being grateful.  Being grateful is important, but saying “Thank you” should not need to take a lot of time.

In the spirit of gratitude: thanks for reading.  I hope to hear from you again soon!

If you need help writing an effective thank-you, please feel free to submit a request at our editing service.  One of our editors will gladly help you write thank-yous that sparkle!

Using Writing to Reduce Stress

“You worry too much”

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I would be rich. Despite this, I realize it is a major character flaw for me. I do worry too much and I stress about things that I should not stress about. However, the worrying and stressing are all part of who I am and how I choose to handle the psychological side effects of my character flaws is up to me.

I have found that writing is therapuetic. It doesn’t matter what I am writing about, as long as I am writing about something. I could write in a journal, a seperate blog I am keeping or work on one of the three stories that I am currently in the process of creating. I could even start a few more story lines I have been happily entertaining in my head but have not written down on paper, yet.

Sometimes the results of stress lead me to a storyline. For example when my sister in-law was in critical condition following a horrible car accident, I had a re-occuring dream that the Grim Reaper/Death was stalking me. He would appear at odd times, give me a non-verbal warning and then disappear almost as quickly as he had come. I was also in my first semester of college and attending college full time and working 25-30 hours a week as a cashier for a large retailer. My stress level was unbelievably high and I was too busy to come up with a constructive outlet for my stress.

That particular dream continued through out her hospital stay and when she was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital the dreams suddenly stopped. However, because of this dream, I developed a story line that I am toying with as part of another story that I am currently writing. That other story is also from a dream I had several years ago.

When I am stressed, I find that my creative juices are usually flowing and I can actually work on a story for hours and come away feeling completely relaxed. My brain is working overtime anyway, so why not take advantage of that fact and put it to good use? Usually when my brain is on overtime, I find that I do my best work on my stories.

Stress and the situations that provoke stressful feelings in us can be used as inspirations in our writing and can also lead us to write fairly good stories or develop some good story lines for use in the future. That is where a writing journal comes in handy. If you cannot find the time to write for hours because your schedule simply does not allow it, you can write yourself a quick note in your writing journal. When you have a chance days, weeks or months in the future, you can bring out the journal and work out the ideas you wrote down previously.