Writing great cards #3: Tell the truth says C.S. Lewis

'Even in literature in art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.' C.S. Lewis

This series of posts on card-writing is an attempt to make something many of us struggle with a little less intimidating. In no way do we want to intimidate you, and perhaps C.S. Lewis is the man to bring you back to basics.

His advice is to unshackle yourself from wanting to be original and to rather focus on telling the truth. Writing a card should really not be that difficult as we (generally) have an abundance of shared history with the recipient – hone in on a memory, a character trait, a shared interest, or even something you can look forward to together, and write from the heart.

You don't want to overthink this. Perhaps Lewis' advice should go hand-in-hand with this sporting metaphor from Frederick B. Wilcox:

'Progress always involves risk, you can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.'

You have written hundreds of cards in the past, and you're going to have the opportunity to write many more in future. Tell the truth, take some risks and have some fun.