How To Write A Family Christmas Letter

How to write a family Christmas letter. Yes, we've all seen them, those round robins. We open them with dread, and we read them sometimes with horror, and then we all love to have a good laugh about them afterwards.

What's wrong with so many of these letters? First of all, they're all about me, me, me, and that's not always very comfortable to read. Secondly, they're often very false. You often get information about all the positive things that happened, and all the achievements of their children and all of the wonderful photographs and the amazing holidays and the fantastic A-level grades that your children have got, but you don't read about maybe the things that are more personal which might be the things that you really want to know about.

Because these letters are addressed at everybody, they end up being really impersonal. Different people know about different aspects of people's lives, and you can never tell everyone about everything so you end up with something very often that's bland and processed. Is there a way to get around this problem? I think there are some useful pointers.

First of all, don't boast. Don't tell somebody whose child is struggling in school, that your child has got four A stars at A level. It's simply going to upset them.

Secondly, think about things that are of general interest and don't try to tell people things that are really important or painful in your life because it'll end up sounding ghastly and people will simply laugh at your misfortune rather than sympathizing with you. Keep it simple, keep it short. A few photographs are often nice because then people can see people that maybe they haven't seen for a year or two, and that's nice, especially as children grow up.

And maybe mention achievements in passing rather than making them centerstage. Lay your letter out simply - don't use complicated typefaces. Don't have each one of your five teenagers write a different bit of the letter in different fonts.

Try and keep it simple. Try and keep it straightforward. And also, don't forget to ask other people about their news and say you're looking forward to hearing from them.

Don't make it all about you. You can also make it about other people you know and other people in your family and then you'll sound a little bit less like a monomaniac. And that's how to write a family Christmas letter. .