How to Write a Romantic Valentine

You’ve got your perfect Valentine’s Day gift, reservations to your favorite restaurant and a bouquet of red roses. All you have to do is write that sweet Valentine’s Day card you got for your loved one, personalized just for him or her and then . . . your mind draws a blank.

Don’t let a carefully prepared Valentine’s Day go to ruin by not knowing what to write on your Valentine’s cards. Here are some tips to get you started on writing the perfect message for your loved one:

Be Sincere

No matter how flowery the words you use for your Valentine, it’s not worth much if your partner knows it’s not coming from the heart. Why call her Sugarpie Honeybunch when you really call her Piglet as an affectionate nickname on a daily basis? If you’ve been having a lot of fights with your partner recently, writing a Valentine that says, “You light up my life everyday” would strike one as a bit insincere unless you also acknowledge the fact that you’ve been fighting a lot. “I know we’ve been having a lot of fights lately, but at the end of the day, you still light up my life” is a more appropriate, more sincere, and ultimately more honest and romantic than any canned line. The key to romance is intimacy, opening up what you really feel to another person, and doing a meaningful gesture to accompany it.

Take note that sincerity and honesty does not equate with crassness and oversharing. “I know we’ve been fighting lately, but I saw my friend Greg the other day and his loud-mouthed wife and I knew I was still lucky with you!” does not earn you points at all. Sure, it may be funny and true to you, but it doesn’t mean that your partner will appreciate it. Try to keep other people out of the picture and keep negative adjectives out of your Valentine, and you’ll be okay.

Make it Funny

The great thing about couples is that through their shared experiences, they develop their own brand of humor, leading to private jokes and shared humor. Now is the perfect time to employ that shared laughter. For example, you may have notoriously bad handwriting, what you can do is to copy a famous love poem by hand and ending it with, “Sorry, I tried.” You can also add a PS to a romantic note with, “Your hints worked!”

Quote the Greats

Sometimes, you just really don’t know how to express what you feel in a particularly creative manner. That’s okay; no one is asking you to be a poet. A few weeks before Valentine’s, peruse music, romantic movies, love poems and even romantic short stories to find which of the words ring particularly true for you and your partner. Love is a topic that’s been discussed and written about since time immemorial. Finding the perfect quote, song or poem for your lover will echo within him or her as well.

Poets who wrote some of the most famous love poems and sonnets include Pablo Neruda, Rainer Maria Rilke, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and William Shakespeare, among others. As for love songs, there are so many to choose from different decades and musical stylings, so take your time.

Add a Little Doodle

Sometimes, it takes more than words to make something really special. A small work of art depicting you and your loved one is a cute and heartwarming way to make your Valentine even more personalized. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated-even stick figures will do! But a small drawing can make your partner’s smile even bigger.

Things to Remember

Keep in mind that you should first draft your Valentine on a separate piece of paper first, or on the computer for proofreading. Misspelled words and grammatical errors are not romantic.

Valentines shouldn’t be written in a hurry. Take some time off on a weekend to sit down on your own and think of what you really want to say. Think of the little things that make your relationship special, what you love most about your partner and your hopes for your future. Keeping the Valentine message anchored to your real relationship is sometimes better than philosophical musings about love. Keep it real and open your heart and your Valentine will truly be memorable.