There's something about autumn that makes people want to write. The evenings draw in, the light turns golden, the first chestnuts appear at street corners. There's a little nostalgia in the air, and a wish to reach out to people we love.
If you'd like to write a letter this autumn but don't know where to start, here are fifteen prompts. Choose two or three, and let the rest of the letter follow.
The season around you
1. Describe the view from your window this week: the color of the trees, the light at 5 p.m. 2. What does autumn smell like where you live? Wet leaves, woodsmoke, roasted chestnuts, rain on pavement? 3. What's the first autumn thing you did this year? A scarf, a soup, a walk in the park? 4. Describe one walk you took recently, step by step.
Small pleasures
5. What are you reading, watching or listening to on these longer evenings? 6. What's your favorite autumn food, and who taught you to make it? 7. What's one small thing that made you happy this week? 8. Which café, bench or corner of your city do you return to in autumn?
Memories
9. What's your earliest memory of autumn? School beginning, a coat, a particular smell? 10. Describe an autumn you spent together, or one you wish you had. 11. What did autumn look like where you grew up?
The season ahead
12. What are you looking forward to before the year ends? 13. What are you letting go of, like the trees with their leaves? 14. What would you like to do together when you next see each other? 15. What do you wish for them this season?
A little extra
Slip a pressed leaf, a dried flower or a photo of a tree from your street into the envelope. Autumn letters love small souvenirs.
Letters through every season
The Letter & Magazine subscription sends you a letter and a postcard every month, following the seasons, with a meditation and a story about art, plus a seasonal issue of "(meditating) On Art". Autumn, in your mailbox.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi