What to Write in a Card (When Your Brain's Gone Blank)

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.

— Virginia Woolf

It happens to us all. You've spent precious time choosing the perfect card with a specific person in mind: just the right colours, a lovely illustration, something you know will bring them a quiet burst of joy. But then…

You sit down to write in it and your mind empties faster than a fart in a lift. Suddenly you are a person bereft of all feelings and vocabulary. How??

Don't worry… Hadley to the rescue! Let’s not overthink it. Here are a few card-writing tips that actually work. No english lit degree required.

Tip No. 1: Keep it short and sweet

Nobody has ever opened a card of dense prose and thought “wow, more really is more”. Two or three heartfelt lines will always land better than a rambly paragraph of tiny scrawl. Say what you mean. Then stop.

I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

— Blaise Pascal

Tip No. 2: Say something real

The secret to a card that makes someone feel genuinely ‘seen’? A specific detail or a shared memory. A crap in-joke perhaps. Something only the two of you would know or understand. Hit them right in the feels. "I know how hard you've worked for this" (awww) lands ten times harder than "congratulations on your achievement" (yawn).

We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.

— Anaïs Nin

Tip No. 3: Write like you talk

Unless you actually speak in iambic pentameter, there is absolutely no need write in it. The only flowery thing about your card should be the design (where more flowers is always best). No, the bit inside wants the real you - your voice, your humour, your poor grammar. If you'd never say "wishing you all the very best on this joyous occasion" out loud, don't write it either.

I have now attained the true art of letter-writing, which we are always told is to express on paper exactly what one would say to the same person by word of mouth.

— Jane Austen

Tip No. 4: Don't overthink it - just send the thing!

A card sent with a slightly wonky message is soo much better than a perfect card sitting on your kitchen counter for three weeks because you couldn't decide between "warm wishes" and "warmest wishes." The recipient doesn't care about the wording half as much as they care that you thought of them. That's the whole point, really.

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.

— Margaret Atwood

Honestly, the bar is lower than you think - and the gesture means more than you know. So take a breath, pick up the pen, and write something real. Even if it's just three lines and a slightly lopsided heart.

That's it. Off you go!