Here’s a Quick Way to Write a Letter to a Famous Author

Last updated on July 27th, 2014 at 09:50 pm

One of my assignments from our last dream meeting was to write a letter to Stephen King.

It sounded like a great idea at the time, though I think the wine may have influenced my mood.

It has been about month since our last meeting and I realized I had not completed this assignment.

Today I sat down and wrote that letter.

In doing so I discovered a few things you should do before you begin the letter–

1. Have an address to mail the letter. It may feel good just know you wrote the letter but it doesn’t really mean anything until you mail it. It may take a little time and digging but eventually you will find something.

2. Write a list of all the things you don’t want to say. If you have a specific tone you don’t want the letter to have, write that down here too.  You really don’t want your letter to sound whiny or accusatory. Refer to this list often.

3. Make a list of what you do want the letter to say. What message are you trying to get across?  Is this a thank you letter? Some kind of request? Writing that down will help you stay on point.

4. This is the most important  – Write It! Just sit down and write the letter.  It really is the only way it is going to get done.

Below is an excerpt from the letter I wrote.  I was trying to avoid cheesy and I didn’t want to ask the man for anything. Although I have to admit I did mention my killeryarns site.  I hope I succeeded.

Dear Mr. King,

I am not writing to ask you for anything.

I swear.

My name is Dawnda Schaefer and I have a dream to be a writer.  I have no doubt that you have heard that a gazillion times but please don’t stop reading just yet.  I am a member of a group called 8 Women Dream (8WomenDream.com).  The group is made up of 8 women (bet you could have figured that out) that all have a dream.  We encourage one another to reach our dreams by being supportive and honest and then poking and prodding until we are so annoyed we complete our assignments.

One of my assignments is to get out of my own head and write to you. You, or I should say your writing, has been the subject of a few of my posts on our site — I hope you don’t mind.  I enjoy your writing so much that I find myself trying to write in a similar fashion.  It doesn’t always look that way on paper but I swear it sounds like it in my head.

I want to thank you for providing so many hours of entertainment.  Yes you scare me but honestly you make me laugh hysterically which scares my husband.  Entertainment provided for all.

One more step down the road of my dream life.  It doesn’t matter if he never responds back.  What matters is that I did it.

Dawnda

(Dawnda rotated out of the 8 Women Dream group in 2009 to work on launching a new business and go bak to achool for her accounting degree)