"No, there is not a single mistake in it," answered his mother. "You have the right mark after the words Dear Fred. You have begun every sentence with a capital letter. You have the right mark at the end of every sentence. But, Tom, it isn't a bright letter."
"How shall I make it bright?" asked Tom.
His mother smiled. "Look at the first sentence in your letter," she said. "It tells that you are four feet three inches tall. How uninteresting that is! Who cares to know your exact height, down to an inch! Why not say instead, 'I am a funny little blue-eyed chap with brown hair all over the top of my head'! Would not that be much brighter than 'I am four feet three inches tall'? Now look at the next sentence. It tells that you weigh seventy-five pounds. How uninteresting that is! Is some one thinking of buying you by the pound, as if you were a little pig or a calf? Why not say instead, 'I am as round and fat as a ball of butter'? Look at the third sentence. It says that you like to run and jump. That is true. You do like to run and jump. But why not tell it in a bright way? You might have said, 'My brother says I can run like a deer and jump like a frog.'"
Tom took the letter back and gave a shout. "I see what you mean," he cried. "I'll write the whole letter over." A little later he showed his mother the following:
Dear Fred:
I am a funny little blue-eyed chap with brown hair all over the top of my head. I am as round and fat as a ball of butter. My brother says I can run like a deer and jump like a frog. My sister says I am a bookworm. But rather than be a deer or a frog or a bookworm, I want to be your best friend.
Somebody
Oral Exercise. Which of the letters that Tom wrote do you like better? Can you tell why? Point out bright sentences in his first letter. Point out interesting sentences in his second letter.
Tom was very much pleased that he had written his letter over. "The next time I have to write a letter," he said, "I shall write two, and send the second one."
"That's a good plan," said his mother. "First write the best letter you can. Then read it over and make it better." Tom began at once to write more letters for Valentine Day. "It's fun," he said, "and the teacher told us that we might send more than one if we cared to." He followed the new plan of writing a first letter, rather rapidly, and then slowly writing it over and making it better. Then he would throw away the first. Tom worked more than an hour. At the end of that time he showed his mother three letters. Here is one, written to a schoolmate named Marjorie: