Letter Writing

With all the writing I do, letters are something about which I've always felt good. What better way to express yourself for a purpose, that of articulating a specific message to a specific person?

I wrote a really difficult letter last night. It had to be tactful, respectful, while to-the-point and here's-how-it's-going-to-be-with-me-from-now-on. I had to convey knowledge with one thing, my distaste with another, and offer support for future standings. 'Twas not easy.

It was as I continued to tweak and retweak a portion here, a segment there, that I compared the process with writing my query; it's such a seemingly delicate art.

I wasn't satisfied until everything was just.right. I'd omit something just to bring it back. I'd use words of over-reaction, then return to them and pull it back a notch. Or I'd stumble upon the best phrase for the point I was trying make and replace seven words with three, making the whole thing less clunky.

Finally, as with my query, I got to the point where I could say, "Okay, Janna. Enough." The end result with last night's letter left me confident and comfortable with what I'd written. I knew I'd represented myself well, to the best of my ability. And that's how it sits with my query. I realize that though my query may need rehab down the line, depending upon how it's continually received, I've approached it the right way as a writer - by saying what's best, and saying it in the best way.