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I used to be a somewhat prolific letter writer. All through my time at university and for a few years that followed I would write probably two or three letters a week. I guess back then e-mail wasn’t such a big thing but over time its use has grown so much that writing letters has gone by the wayside for most people.

Many people perhaps count it as a blessing to no longer receive letters from me, as I have somewhat indecipherable handwriting at times, which may well have detracted from the excitement of receiving the letter. I was also probably quite rambling – I know... it seems so unlikely...

When my friend went to the Gambia last year I said to her that I would write and she replied “why bother to write, it takes time and costs money. E-mail is far easier” Er… right… thanks. I guess I won’t bother then. Admittedly she is incredibly practical but to me, sending or receiving a letter is far better than an e-mail. Not that I don’t appreciate e-mails, but it isn’t quite the same as a letter.

E-mails can be sent without a moment’s thought. I would think there are any number of e-mails that people have sent that had they taken more time to think about it, they never would have done so. Wasn’t it Jo Moore who sent that infamous e-mail saying that it was a “good day to bury bad news” when the attacks took place in New York back in September 2001? At least without e-mail she might have used a different method of communication that could have given her more time to reflect on what she was going to say – or at least one that was less easy to splash across the media.

Sometimes I get sick of dealing with e-mails and instead go back to writing letters for a bit, but ultimately it’s easier to send an e-mail. It’s more convenient. Now we often text instead of phone and we send e-mails instead of making the effort to put pen to paper. I read on the BBC the other day that the art of writing a love letter is dying out. I think that would be rather sad if that became a thing of the past. There is something special about someone going to the effort of putting in writing what they feel, putting it in an envelope, sticking a stamp on and taking it to the post box. I know it takes longer to arrive but then I think that’s part of it – it isn’t something that you mean at the moment you click on the button and send the e-mail, but it has to be something that you still (hopefully!) mean a couple of days later when your letter drops through the letter box of the object of your affection.

So, if you have a few spare moments, dust off your pen and paper and write a few lines to a friend, a lover, someone who you once knew or if you can’t think of anyone put a message in a bottle for someone you don’t even know to find. I suspect the message you send will be more than that just written on the paper.