Letter Writing

Envelopes, paper, addressing and the slow post.

• What Makes a Letter Worth Keeping

  Five things the letters people actually keep have in common, and why none of them is good handwriting.

• Fold an Envelope From One Square Sheet

  The four-fold square envelope, the sizing rule that stops you wasting paper, and the paper weights that actually survive the post.

• How to Address an Envelope So It Actually Arrives

  Where the sorting machine looks, which decorative choices cost you a delivery, and how to write an address that survives automation.