Big Debate: Are letters better or do emails get message across?

But for others the convenience and speed of an email will win every time.

Andy Richardson and Dan Morris battle it out...

A letter shows you care, says Andy

Okay. Let’s get past all the hassle first. There’s the staff member in the Post Office who doesn’t want to serve you. There’s the queue of people, looking at their feet, who’d rather be anywhere but here. And then there’s the cost: sending a letter now costs more than buying 15,678 apples - and that’s if the thing gets delivered anyway...

But. But.

Letters are a gift. They say so much more than a simple email, WhatsApp, or text. They show that you’ve gone out of your way, that you’ve put someone else first, and, most importantly of all, that you’ve engaged. Emailing is as quick and easy as blowing your nose when you’ve got a cold. Writing a letter is like cooking a great meal, curating a brilliant playlist, dressing up for a night on the town.

There’s a sense of ceremony; the art of taking pen and paper and committing thoughts to that. There’s the joy of the unknown; of opening a letter to find out what’s inside. And then there’s the feeling of being special, of being a recipient of another’s kind words – because, of course, we’re assuming the letter is one we’d like to send or receive, rather than a demand from HMRC, an instruction from the Family Courts, or a letter from the NHS.

Most of all, letters are about time. They are an act of giving - and the item isn’t paper and ink, it’s a giving of the self. They show others that we care. And taking time to lay out thoughts, to share emotion, is one of the greatest gifts of all.

I’ve written many thousands of letters. And while I’ve no doubt sent millions of emails – I’d trade a thousand of those for a single letter.

I bought a wax seal, ten years ago, which I use to close the really important ones. Because that sense of ceremony, that sense of occasion, is something money – and the internet – can’t ever beat.

It’s emails all the way, says Dan

Emails all the way, everyday of the week – and here’s why...

I completely appreciate the pomp and circumstance of a truly special letter, scribed with a quill on thick, glorious parchment that a few redwoods will have bid farewell for.

But seeing as I’m neither Albus Dumbledore nor Mr Darcy (a boy can only dream), I just don’t have the time for such grandiosity when it comes to day-to-day correspondence. And if we’re not making them special, what is the point of a letter rather than an email? Emails serve the same function, yet are instant, cheaper, and the expected form of business communication today.

And these days they don’t even have to be clinically impersonal, as was once the way. Emails now can be customised with signatures, softened through font choice and emojis, and can generally reflect the personality of the sender much more than when they were a new-fangled thang.

Perhaps most importantly, with a picture always being worth a thousand words, emails are an excellent way for photographs to be shared far and wide without risking loss or damage to an original. No such luck, sadly, with a letter. I will concede letters do have one very important thing going for them. Paper smells nice – fact. Books, magazines and letters all smell gorgeous – emails not so much. Yet, in a fast-paced world that demands fast-paced contact, I can leave my nose to find treats elsewhere. Why waste time with a letter? Save it with an email, people!