Writing a love letter is a great idea, even now. A letter helps keep playfulness alive in a relationship. It offers a snapshot of your life together at a particular moment. It tells your love how much you need him (or her)—and that feels just as good on the fiftieth reading as it does on the first.

When cleaning out my great–aunt’s home, one treasure we found was a love letter she’d received from her late husband. It was easy to see why she’d kept it all her life. Even after years in a drawer, the passion was still there.

Ready to pen your own heartfelt love letter? Try these tips:

• Make him feel it from the start.
  The letter my great–aunt kept all those years began, My Darling Girl...
• Mention why you're writing.
  It might be an occasion like Valentine’s Day, but I just felt like telling you...is also a good reason.
• Affirm him.
  What are his best qualities? What has he done lately that you’re grateful for?
• See the future.
  What are you looking forward to together? Seeing him tonight? Still loving him when he’s 64? (This confidence is especially meaningful during tough times together.)
  
• Finish strong.
  How about: All my love, Forever yours, Tenderly, XOXOXO, Your loving wife...just to name a few.
• Special delivery?
  I like leaving love letters for my husband in places I know he’ll find them (pillow, car seat, etc.).

Maybe the best advice is just to relax. I write for a living, and I still have trouble starting sometimes. But then I remember it’s a love letter—not a sonnet or a novel. I just have to be my in-love self for a few lines. If I can do that, it will be a keeper.