Hand written or typed?

by **Jay Beezy** » Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:43 pm

Another thing to note is that there are people who like to think their handwriting is legible, but their handwriting reads like gibberish or looks sloppy to some others. It's happened to me plenty of times, not with fan letters, just general things.

by **Munchausen** » Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:42 pm

Jay Beezy wrote:However, if they have that specialty title like Sir and Dame, it's probably best to address them in the more respectful manner.

Agreed.

Jay Beezy wrote:Most fanmail advice sites/blogs/etc. say you should do typing if your handwriting is questionable, just so long as the content of the letter is personal for the celeb you're writing to.

Well, if you truly have such a hard time making your handwriting legible, then I understand why you type your letters. So I guess that's the answer to the OP's question: if you are uncomfortable with your handwriting, you should type up your letters as a celeb is not going to read a garbled mess (though there is debate as to whether or not they read them to begin with)... but if you have no problem making your handwriting legible, then long hand is the way to go.

by **Jay Beezy** » Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:51 pm

However, if they have that specialty title like Sir and Dame, it's probably best to address them in the more respectful manner. Each celebrity is different in that way, same with their preference toward handwritten or typed letters or not caring what format it's in.

Just one last remark, I don't trust my own handwriting. So if I put more focus on making sure my handwriting is clear and concise, I'll put less focus into writing words that are from the heart. I want to feel like this message came from the heart, and I won't feel that if I'm concerned more with how my handwriting looks.

If people have had success doing it whatever way they saw fit, then we really shouldn't judge the format they use. He's had success using typing, you've had success doing handwriting. People have their preferences, just like celebs. I just find it silly for you and Johnny to judge some of us for preferring typing because we don't necessarily have the most legible of handwriting. Most fanmail advice sites/blogs/etc. say you should do typing if your handwriting is questionable, just so long as the content of the letter is personal for the celeb you're writing to.

by **Munchausen** » Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:33 am

First off, I would agree that the "ransom note" format is the best way to go and I've gotten several responses by approaching it that way

Anyway, I think it's great you hand-write now. I think it's great that you got a lot of responses through typing, but I think you can probably attest now that it gives a nice, rewarding feeling to write it out by hand. I hope you don't feel as if you've been "suckered"! Haha. I think it's awesome how you want to convey as much respect as you do, but I personally do address them by their first name... I definitely agree that we're not friends, and on a first-name basis, but it just seems more personal to me. It's all up to personal preference, though!

by **Jay Beezy** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 2:12 pm

capmonte wrote:I honestly have never seen a big difference in responses in handwritten or typed letters. I exclusively hand write now because it's labelled as such a faux pas around here, but I used to get many responses from typed letters, including notes thanking for me writing about such and such.

I would never address a celebrity by their first name. It's always Mr./Ms./Dame/Sir for me. In my opinion, it's a matter of respect. We're not pals, we're certainly not on a first name basis. If that works for some people, great, but I could never imagine writing to, say, Frank Langella and starting with "Dear Frank"...

Don't let some of these a-holes sway your way of thinking. If you've had success doing typed, why fix what ain't broke?

I do respectfully disagree somewhat about the first name/last name basis. Perhaps maybe with some people last name is appropriate like old school Hollywood legends or members of the Order of the British Empire, but even though you aren't friends with them, sometimes it helps to address them in a friendly manner, whereas a Mr./Ms./Mrs. addressing might give off the vibe that you're someone trying to sell something, which I would agree would come off if the letter were typed, but since you write them by hand because you were suckered (no offense), then it might not be an issue. But there's also an issue with females, as some people don't know if female celebs are married or not so they don't know whether to use Ms. or Mrs. when addressing them.

by **capmonte** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 5:11 am

I honestly have never seen a big difference in responses in handwritten or typed letters. I exclusively hand write now because it's labelled as such a faux pas around here, but I used to get many responses from typed letters, including notes thanking for me writing about such and such.

I would never address a celebrity by their first name. It's always Mr./Ms./Dame/Sir for me. In my opinion, it's a matter of respect. We're not pals, we're certainly not on a first name basis. If that works for some people, great, but I could never imagine writing to, say, Frank Langella and starting with "Dear Frank"...

by **Jay Beezy** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 4:38 am

Actually, neither handwritten nor typed is the way to go. Best method is the ransom letter format: cutting out big colorful letters and words from magazines and pasting them together. :razz:

by **Munchausen** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 6:18 pm

Sairentu wrote:Let's be realistic, most celebs do not read our letters, but when they do, I'm 100% sure they respond better to a great letter printed on a computer than to a lousy one written by hand.

This is a contradictory statement. If the celebrity is not reading our letter, then our only way to stand above the mundane and showcase how big of a fan we truly are is a hand-written letter; they may only glance once or twice at it, but they know that we were heartfelt and sincere. On the other hand, a typed letter shows them that you're: A) Not truly a fan, B) A dealer who's just going to sell the picture, or C) Indolent and undeserving of their time and energy. I definitely have to agree with "johnnylightninglives" that this is a hobby you're meant to put as much into as you can, and every aspect of it is meant to be a fun and rewarding experience. The way you're going about it as if it's a numbers game, which is just... wrong. In closing, you can go ahead and be as lazy as you want to be (it looks like you are making strides in that area of expertise

). I, personally, would rather have 27 honest successes, as opposed to 50 hollow ones that are stripped of all meaning. But hey, we can't all be genuine individuals in this world. I get that. This will be my last contribution to the current discussion, as well.

P.S. I own two printers

by **Jay Beezy** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 3:00 pm

Sairentu wrote:Please, continue telling celebs about your cat. I'm sure they care.

I wonder what they'd think of him if they found out how self-righteous he is.

by **Sairentu** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 6:03 am

johnnylightninglives wrote:Who actually writes thanks for handwriting the letter,Anyone can see by their words it was appreciated without them actually saying it ..Now you are just being silly. I have proven my point and I will continue to handwrite my letters and you can do what you do. Do you even have any photos to show where they said anything that even had anything to do with things you said in your letter ? Probably not since you send printed out form letters like you are applying for a job lol Just change the celebs name on each letter and change a few small words to suit that person. You are lucky if you get a best wishes with your autograph im sure.Try going back to school and learn to write without the help of a machine lol P.S. Im done with this conversation because some people just seem to like to argue, You do your generic letter thing and I will do my hobby ...

Please, continue telling celebs about your cat. I'm sure they care.

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