Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Alright. Not Prophecy. But Letters, instead :)

This is topic Alright. Not Prophecy. But Letters, instead :) in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Phanto (Member # 1619) on :

Anyway, now I'm making the character send several letters. How should I format them? As a tool, it is used enough that there must be *some* standard.

Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :

Yeah, it's quite simple, actually:

John opened the enveloped and carefully removed the letter inside. As he unfolded it, he closed his eyes for fear of reading another possible rejection letter for his manuscript. Once he had steeled himself against that particular outcome, he opened his eyes and looked at the letter. It said:

Dear John,

Thank you for your manuscript, but we don't think that a horror story with this much graphic detail would be appropriate for the 6-10 yr old market we usually publish for.

Kindest regards,

Mr. Evil Editor.

John winced over his stupidity for sending the wrong manuscript... again!

[This message has been edited by HSO (edited July 21, 2004).]

Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :

LOL!!

Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :

I was just trying to think of books that include letters and one that sprung to mind was "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis.

It's been years since I looked through it (I'm not sure as I ever read all of it) but it might be something to look at if you're searching for a style.

Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :

Or you could have the VP character summarize the letter.

John ripped open the enveloped and pulled out the letter. There were a lot of big-league college words, but basically, it was "Thanks, but no thanks, Jack."

"Great," John muttered.

Or something like that.

Just a thought.
CVG

Posted by Keeley (Member # 2088) on :

quote:
I was just trying to think of books that include letters and one that sprung to mind was "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is another book that uses letters as a way to tell the story.

[This message has been edited by Keeley (edited July 22, 2004).]

Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :

Bram Stoker's Dracula, though there's no narrative in between. I can't remember how the formatting worked, but it might be helpful.

[This message has been edited by MaryRobinette (edited July 23, 2004).]