Axios: The art of handwritten notes

Posted on April 10, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
The art of handwritten notes
Illustration of an opened mailbox emanating a bright glow from inside. 
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
 
It’s 2026 and I’d choose a handwritten note over an AI-generated response any day of the week, Axios’ Natalie Daher writes.

I also practice what I preach. I’ve shared written correspondence with friends, former co-workers and family members since I was a kid.

I wrote my cousin, who was a Navy Seal deployed to Afghanistan in the early 2000s, and actually heard back. I wrote thank you notes for birthday gifts, as my mom required. I even wrote Britney Spears (radio silence there). 

As an adult, I’ve accumulated fancy stationery, a fountain pen and more stickers than I’ll ever use. Like my colleague Aïda Amer, I treasure snail mail. 

So when a novel arrived that put letter-writing and emails at its center, I didn’t just read it — I organized a multi-generational book club.

“The Correspondent,” the epistolary novel by Virginia Evans, became a sleeper hit last year — and it resonated with me deeply enough that I wasn’t surprised to find I wasn’t alone. 

Elizabeth Passarella wrote for The New York Times last week about receiving a surprise letter from her sister, who had been inspired by Evans’ book

The novel’s main character, Sybil Antwerp, is a Maryland-based retired lawyer who exchanges letters with everyone from an ancestry company employee to her adopted brother who lives in Europe to novelist Joan Didion.

Through those correspondences, we learn about Antwerp’s experiences with aging, grief and a long career in law — and the major secrets she’s kept along the way.

Evans’ novel reminded me why the act of writing itself matters, not just the sentiment behind it.Tips for getting started: 

Keep the bar low. My stationary might be extra, but yours doesn’t need to be. Plain paper works. Don’t overthink your message — start with a shared memory or a quote that reminds you of your recipient. 

Make it easy for yourself. Passarella recalls a friend who keeps notecards in her minivan so she can write while waiting for school pickup. Or switch up your usual journaling routine and write someone a letter instead. 

Reconnect with an old friend. Falling out of touch doesn’t have to mean forever. A surprise note puts you out there with no pressure. There’s no guarantee, but you might be glad you tried.Pose a question. It gives your recipient an easy reason to write back, and suddenly you have a correspondence on your hands.💐 

I’ll add one: Write notes to the people you live with (no postage required).

Partners, roommates, family — it’s the most charming of gifts, akin to flowers but better in my opinion.

Between the lines: There are real benefits to writing by hand, even as technology gives us plenty of reasons not to bother.

Putting pen to paper activates parts of the brain associated with creativity, memory and the senses in ways that typing simply doesn’t, Passarellawrites.

And beyond the neurological, there’s something irreplaceable about the physical artifact a letter becomes. They form a record your loved ones can return to long after you’re gone.

The bottom line: Writing letters isn’t just meaningful — it’s personally enriching in ways that a text or email rarely is.

Start with a simple dispatch and see where it goes.Tell us about your correspondences! Have you received or sent a note spontaneously or over time? Did that lead to a reconnection or simply an enjoyable habit? Write us at finishline@axios.com for the chance to be in a future edition.
Unknown's avatar

About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a comment