Tips for Writing an Authentic Christmas Letter

I love Christmas letters.

Tell me all your great news, brag about your kids, allow me to rejoice with you! I want to hear what my friends are thankful for as they look back over the past year and anticipate the next.

I also love to write my family’s Christmas letter.

It’s an opportunity to crystalize my family’s year in two sides of a piece of paper.

It’s important to recognize not every year is full of triumphs. Click to tweet

More than a dozen of our friends have lost loved ones in the last twelve months. How can I write a cheery note without acknowledging the holes in their lives this Christmas? This is how I phrased it, three paragraphs into my letter:

“Our family feels very blessed this year in the wake of so much loss for people we love. We’re focused on being thankful because we recognize how quickly things can change. For those of you struggling this Christmas, we’re thinking of you.”

Then, of course, there are the horrible years we’ve endured when nothing seemed to go well.

One year I started with the truth:

“This has been the worse year of my life. My mother died three days before Christmas last year. Six weeks later father had a stroke. My father-in-law had a stroke several weeks after that. R and I tag teamed across the Pacific Ocean for months trying to meet the needs of our parents on the mainland and our children and Navy career in Hawai’i.

“Things have calmed down now as we reach the one year point. For that reason, I’m going to focus this letter on what we’ve have chosen to be thankful for this year.”

That became the theme of the Christmas letter. With each paragraph devoted to a family member, I briefly described their current status and explained what they were thankful for.

That took a grim year–which could have made for a miserable Christmas letter– and provided context. Yes, the year was hard. We missed my mother. Yes, our fathers were disabled but there was good in the year and we wanted to recognize it.

Share things you’re proud of without overdoing it. Click to Tweet

You’re writing to people you care about, they want to know your good news. But there’s a way of writing that puts off your readers, and a way that draws them in.

Try to put it in a gently humorous context. I can write, “Our youngest son made Eagle scout this year. What a relief! Now when all three boys are home, I don’t have to worry about being  prepared for anything!”

“All that Lego has finally paid off–our son is a three-dimensional mechanic with astounding skills!”

Find something positive to say about every family member. Click to Tweet

No one says you have to explain everything, nor do you have to tell everything. “This has been a challenging year with my daughter, but we’ve found going to the movies or reading Harry Potter has helped us connect in a fun way.”

If you cannot find something positive to say, go back to the drawing board and find something. And no backhand compliments are allowed when describing someone you love.

Use a theme.

The year our first grandchild was born, he appeared in every picture–individual family members held him– and they commented about him in their paragraphs.

One year I began the Christmas letter with Webster’s definition for change (noting you would see our family’s photo as a definition). In each family member’s paragraph I described something about their life that had changed.

Another year I simply told how tall we were–and that included my husband and me!

Remember the reason for the season.

Christmas celebrates God appearing in the flesh, Jesus the Christ child. His birth, life, teaching and resurrection are causes to rejoice.

Come, Emmanuel! God is with us!

Why yes, send me your letter. I’d love to hear about your year!

How do you make Christmas letters authentic? Click to Tweet

What do you like best about them?