1. Be yourself – For some reason, people often feel the need to include “big” words in their Christmas letter that they’d never use in real life. Stick to words you use when you’re speaking. It will help your readers “hear” you when they’re reading.

2. Don’t exaggerate – Some Christmas letter writers to try to make every daily event sound as if it’s the discovery of the Holy Grail. Don’t embellish the truth. The events will speak for themselves. For an example of how not to write a Christmas letter, see this parody from Fun for the Holidays.

3. Keep it short and focused – What were the best things that happened to you? The funniest events? Or the most important changes in your life? You don’t need to write about all 365 days of the year. Focus on the important ones, and try to keep your letter to one or two typed pages.

4. Avoid unnecessary adjectives – This is a follow-up to rules #1 and #2 above. Excessive use of adjectives that you’d never use in everyday conversation is a common pitfall for many Christmas letter writers.  Avoid sentences such as, “My beautiful wife Jane and I took our wonderful kids to the fabulous city of New York and spent exciting hours visiting the incredible museums.” Keep the modifiers to a minimum.

5. Write for your audience – Do you send your Christmas letter just to close friends and family who already know the details of your everyday life? Or to casual acquaintances and business associates? Your letter should entertain the people who aren’t intimately familiar with your daily happenings without boring those who are.

6. Make it visually appealing – Your letter will be more interesting if you include photos, clip art, or other images. Photos will liven up any Christmas letter, and many people find it easier to describe one photo at a time than to chronicle an entire year. You can get an inexpensive one-week membership to Clipart.com to get access to over 2 million images or buy Christmas stationery to liven up your words. Plus, the more art you have, the less text you need to write.

7. Be creative – A Christmas letter doesn’t have to be a letter at all. Check out some of these creative Christmas letter ideas for fun ways to give your annual holiday update a fresh new look.

8. Add a personal note – A quick handwritten note at the bottom of each recipient’s Christmas letter will make the update feel more personal and less like an anonymous form letter.

9. Read it aloud – Read your letter aloud, or have someone else read it to you. Does it flow well? Is it interesting to listen to? If not, you might want to rewrite some sections.

10. Have fun! – Remember that Christmas letter writing is an opportunity to have fun and keep others up to date about what you and your family have been doing all year. It shouldn’t feel like a chore to write your letter – or to read it. If you don’t enjoy writing your letters, others won’t enjoy reading them.

So relax, have fun, and happy writing!

1. Christmas Newsletter – If chronicling your entire year in one long letter seems too daunting, think of a few major events and write a short summary of each one to create a personal newsletter. You can use programs such as Microsoft Publisher to format your Christmas newsletter into a fun update, or try one of our printable Word Christmas letter templates.

2. Multiple choice quiz or crossword puzzle – What did your son do in the school talent contest this year? How many colors did you look at before you decided to paint the kitchen walls a light blue? Keep your readers guessing by putting together a quiz or crossword puzzle that gives highlights from your year. You can find free online programs to help you with the formatting. Also, be sure to check the creative Christmas letter examples for ideas.

3. Christmas story – If you enjoy writing, create a story that weaves the events of your year into a Christmas-themed narrative. For help, use our instant Christmas letter generator or see the creative Christmas letter examples.

4. Christmas Slideshow – If you have a digital camera and a CD burner, consider making a slideshow CD to include with your Christmas card instead of a letter. Simply select a favorite song or a Christmas carol and add photos for a fun way to share images of your year. Services such as Shutterfly make it easy to create your photo show, or use an online digital scrapbooking service such as Smilebox.

5. Photo Layout – If wordsmithing isn’t your strength, skip the Christmas letter all together and send family and friends a page of photos printed from your computer. Make the photos different shapes and sizes and use captions to tell about things that happened to your family throughout the year.

6. Top 10 list – What are the 10 most important things that happened to your family this year? How about the most humorous? Or most unbelievable? A top 10 list can be a fun and easy way to describe your family’s year. Think David Letterman and you’ll be on your way.

7. C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S spells Christmas – Eddy Arnold’s 1961 song that gives a meaning for each letter of the word “Christmas” is a great example of how to turn a single word into a story. What did those letters mean to your family this year? C is for a trip to California? H is for the new house you bought? Use the letters of a Christmas-related word or phrase to create a Christmas letter people will be sure to remember.

8. Guest Author – How would your five-year-old child describe the year? Try writing your letter from the perspective of your child, another family member, your new neighbors, a pet, or any other person that could give your letter a fresh new outlook.