If it's handwritten, use classy pen and paper. If it e-mail, pick a nice font. At the very least, roust up some heavy-stock, elegant-looking paper, and if you must use an ordinary pen, choose one with a classy color of ink.

Open with a tender salutation. "Dear Sirs" or "To Whom It May Concern" are businesslike and direct, but they don't quite set the proper tone of intimacy. Instead, try "my dearest" and be sure to get the name of the person right (you'd be surprised how many first-time letter writers flub this small but important detail). Pour what's inside. A love letter isn't like a high-school writing, with an introduction, expository text, and recapitulation. What you want is an inexhaustible, contrasted with your own inimitable thoughts.

Rule: the more own thoughts you put, the classier the letter.

Be focused. If you don't know what to write, don't resort to the dental checkup you had the other day with your mates or a guy at work. Instead, take a break until your romantic fount is replenished and you can get back to that virtue thing.

End with a tender valediction. Consider something more pungent 'I could write it with my blood'. Once you've chosen the proper envelope, master of fruity scripts to inscribe your beloved's name and address. The handwriting should be fancy but not so fancy that your beloved thinks she's received an invitation to expensive restaurant.

- Add some nice photographs.

- Check the final version carefully; it will be read by hundreds of people.

- Post it online and ask your friend what he thinks about your profile.

- Update it with all changes everyday (if there are any).

Chloe Miller http://www.meet2go.com