Staring at a blank space can be frustrating, especially when there are strong feelings of sympathy that can't be expressed well.

Sympathy card messages are possibly the most difficult to write. Learn how to write a message for a sympathy card. Use your tact and empathy to build the perfect message. Use common words that are usually found in sympathy cards. Most importantly, learn what not to write in sympathy cards.

Instructions

Things you'll need:

• Pen
• Some tact
• Empathy

1.      Don't be intimidated by the empty space in the card. Write a simple acknowledgment of the loss. Write something like "I am sorry for your loss." This sets your card message to communicate your intentions clearly. You can write other variations like: "I am saddened to hear about your loss" or "I was surprised to hear about Randy's passing."

2.      Express your own feelings. This is the definition of sympathy. Show the person that you feel loss, sorrow, sadness, etc. Be brief and be genuine. Here is an example of what to write: "I am in shock at the news, and I know I will miss Randy."

3.      Give your support. Your support is an extremely helpful thing when someone dies. Especially when a spouse dies, your friendship and help can make a huge difference. Be specific about how you want to help. Here is an example: "Expect me to call you in the next couple days to check on you." Don't worry, it is usually o.k.. for you to say, "I'll be praying for you" even if you don't know what religion the person practices.

4.      Now you have written a great supportive sympathy card message. Use an appropriate closing. You can use "Sincerely, with warm regards, your friend, Love, You are in my prayers." Choose the closing that fits your relationship and the person you are writing the message for.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your sympathy message concise and to the point
• Start sentences with "I" instead of "You" in order to avoid offending.
• Don't tell the person how they feel such as, "You've got to be feeling depressed."
• Don't use meaningless clichés such as, "It's all for the best." It's better to not judge the situation at all.
• Don't mention any personal business such as money owed by the survivors of the deceased.

Greeting card messages can be a thoughtful gift

Knowing what to write in a card can be a challenge, whether you write in a sympathy card, birthday card, or thank you card. It is easy to waste time figuring out what to write, simply staring at a blank white space. Learning how to write in greeting cards doesn't have to be so intimidating. Follow these how to directions to write a card message that will impress the receiver.

things you'll need:

• a greeting card
• focus
• a pen
• ideas
• creativity

Directions

1. Determine what kind of card your message will be written on. If it is a birthday card, anniversary card, or graduation card, your message will vary greatly from a sympathy card message. Make sure the tone and subject matter of your card match. Birthday cards are more 'anything goes' than sympathy cards for sure, but be careful.
2. Determine what kind of person will receive your card message. You don't want to offend your boss who doesn't have a shred of a sense of humor. Consider your audience, who will likely be around when your card message is read, and whether it is actually in good taste.
   
3. Make your card message personal. Most of the time people will disregard the message that comes in the card you buy. They want to read that hand written personal message you have spent time thinking about. Inside jokes are the best for funny cards. Back up your sincere message with details that only you could understand. Whatever the cause, make it personal. If someone who doesn't know you or the person you are giving the card could have written the message, then it probably isn't personal enough.
   
4. Avoid writing card message clichés. These over-used phrases say nothing original and usually have no remaining meaning. An example for a sympathy card is "It was his time, he is in a better place." This comes across as cold and minimizing. Try another approach. Put yourself in the receiver's place if you can. If you can't then be honest about not understanding the situation. A better example of a sympathy card message is: "I can't imagine the loss you are feeling. The time I spent with _________ was a gift from God." Now you have been honest and shown admiration for the person who has died. This is much more personal than "My Condolences." Of course there are times when you will want a general card message, usually because you don't know the person well enough or it is more of a professional than a personal relationship.
   
5. Get something on paper. If you are really stumped, have an imaginary conversation with the person you are writing the message for.
6. "Hey, happy birthday! 50 today huh? I guess you are still older than me. Although I feel like I am aging faster as if I could actually catch up with you. You have a youthful spirit."
7. Now take that conversation and write: "Happy 50th, I feel like I should be as old as you by now, but no matter how much younger you look and act, you will always be my big sister."
8. Take ideas from your speech and write those in a poetic way.
   
9. Proofread your card message. Find someone who is neutral and objective to run your ideas by. Ask his or her opinion about what it means. If he or she can't figure out what it means you have either written a really personal inside joke card message or you need to revise and edit.
   
10. Use examples of wording and ideas from other sources if you must. There are links at the bottom of the page to examples I have come up with. Feel free to check out those sample ideas and reword them to fit your needs. Or just use them as a reference or idea generator.
    

Tips & Warnings

• Imagine the person you are going to give the card. Write your message for them and you will be successful.
• Try talking your message. Say what you would say to the person. Some people are much better at speaking than writing.
• Avoid clichés (i.e. "It was his time to go")
• Don't try to write a certain amount. Just write what comes to mind
• Be careful with humor. Think about who will get your card

Bible verses can create excellent condolences messages for cards.  Expressing sympathy is a lot easier when you are using a source like the Bible to help you with your wording.  Condolences are meant to support and encourage, and what better source than the Bible.

Sometimes you just have no idea what to write when someone else is suffering.  You don't really want to give advice, because you don't feel like you should. You don't want to condole by encouragement, because you can't see much hope yourself.

Example of a Bible verse condolences:
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."-Matthew 5:4

This is when you may want to use a Bible verse as your condolence card message, because the Bible verse is from another source.  This keeps you from having to think of what to write, and makes the message of condolence from a sacred text that has power, beauty, and meaning all in its own.

You will want to use an appropriate verse for the situation.  This can take some searching.  Then you will want to make sure the context of the verse fits, because verses out of context can be offensive.

As Halloween approaches, it will soon be time to write in a Halloween card.  Halloween card messages give you the opportunity to have fun, be creative, or just show your corny humor.  You can find some ideas for Halloween messages online, but there are a ton of places to get examples.  Here is the link to the best Halloween card messages:

Here are a couple examples:

1. "I am dying to have a great Halloween with you. Happy Halloween!"
2. "The skeleton laughed at this Halloween card message. It tickled his funny bone."

You can use these Halloween messages as funny Facebook status updates, or as SMS text messages for Halloween.  You can use them to help you make up jokes for Halloween.  Enjoy your Halloween and write a great Halloween message.

Sometimes it isn't a nice occasion when you give someone a greeting card.  When you have to write an apology card and think of an I'm sorry card message, you might feel even more sorry having to write the card message.

Here's what not to write in an apology message:

1. "I'm sorry you are too sensitive to take a joke.  It's really your fault that you are such a little baby." - This is actually blaming the other person.
   
2. "I'm like soooooo sorry.  My bad. I'll make sure to do better next time." - This is insincere and sarcastic.
3. "I'm sorry, but you have to admit, it was your fault too." - Any time you write the word "but" after the I'm sorry part, you erase the apology.
   

Sometimes it's a great idea to add a useful quote to your card message.  Usually this is done either at the beginning or end of what you want to say, but you could just as easily leave only a quote as your entire message.  This can be extremely useful for graduation messages, anniversary messages, etc.
Here are a couple examples of graduation quotes found in Look Out World, by Tom Burns:

• "Graduation is your ticket to change the world."
• "If you're waiting for something to turn up, start with your shirt sleeves."

You can also find Anniversary or Life Quotes Here:

• Life Quotes
• Anniversary Quotes

Birthday Messages with a Sense of Humor

When you need something funny to write about birthdays, just think about the details of how people are made.  Some funny ideas can come out of simple biology.  Here are a few funny birthday examples, just using the picture to the right.

1. "Happy birthday! Maybe you can get back into swimming this year.  You used to love swimming."
2. "Good thing you got over that awkward crazy tail phase."
3. "You won! Congratulations on getting the prize and getting to be born.  Happy birthday."
4. "Where and what were you doing nine months before your birthday?"
5. "Good thing we can't remember anything from before we were born, right?  Happy birthday! Here's to not remembering."
6. "I remember when you were just a little guy.  Happy birthday!"
7. "You were the most competitive among your peers... at least before you were born."

I'll include a video of a robot birth to give you some more inspiration to write the best birthday message you can.

I found a blog that mentions that some card messages are becoming very specific.  For example, some get well cards specifically say congratulations for surviving cancer for one year.  Some people might think this takes all the thought out of writing your own card message and it would be too difficult to find that specific card when you need it. 

I say NONSENSE!  Everyone would feel much more special if they had their own card that is just for them.  For example, if you are a one eyed, 46 year old, short, fat, musician, who is going to go though ECT (electro-convulsive therapy) then there is no reason you shouldn't have a big company like Hallmark tailor to your demographic. 

This can actually be done with print on demand greeting cards, but it might be difficult to find someone to design your card.  The possibilities are endless.  As for the ECT card message, someone has come up with a few on their blog.  Here's the link and the ECT card message examples:

From allittlespark.wordpress.com

• Outside of the card: “Heard you were having ECT…”
  Inside: “Hope the treatment goes shockingly smoothly.”
• Outside of the card: “You said you needed more sparks in your life,”
  Inside: “I guess you’re getting them now.  Get well soon.”
• Outside of the card: “You may experience some memory loss…”
  Inside: “At least you might get to forget all the bad times! Hope your treatment goes well.”

Maybe in the near future we will see the ECT section of greeting cards at our local drugstore.  Until then, we'll have to make our own card messages as specific as we can on our own.

Love Poems for Anniversary Messages

Sometimes it's appropriate to write an anniversary poem in your anniversary card.  Your poem can stand alone as your card message, or you can write a message with your poem. 

Either way, you may need help writing your poem, or you may want to use a poem already written that can help you express what you want to express.

Here are a couple examples of anniversary poems you can use for your anniversary card.  If you are up for the challenge, you can write a love poem on your own.

Anniversary Poem Examples:

Caught Together
Time caught us together again
I like getting caught with you
You stay my mine and I Yours
A year gone by again is fun

Sweet Aging
Our relationship ages but we stay the same
The taste is always sweet year after year
The time is a marker of the meaning we have
and the significance grows with our love

Can You Fake Creativity?
You might wonder how some people seem to be able to come up with awesome greeting card messages every time.  They seem to be witty and make it seem like writing in a card is fun. There are a few things you can do to fake creativity too.  Follow these tips for writing great greeting card messages.

1. The Inside Joke: Think of anything that you and the person you are writing the card know about.  This is the basis for inside jokes that you can use in your card.  So, if you are writing a message for a golf lover, then you can refer to golf in their card message. So you can write something like, "Good thing golf is an old man's sport," for a birthday message.
   
2. Funny Twist:  You can come up with a twist on something when you identify two things that are totally unrelated and look for similarities.  For example, maybe you are writing a thank you message, and you think of something unrelated like "bread," and then you think "dough" is what they gave me.  Then you can write a funny message for the person like, "Thanks for giving me some dough, now I can make some bread." Then you might draw a little picture of you making bread.  This is a ridiculous example, but you get the idea.
3. Steal Someone's Concept:  With the internet around, it's easy to "google" birthday jokes.  Then all you have to do change them for your birthday message.  Sometimes you can take an "old person" joke and reverse it to make it sarcastic.  Other times you might change the details of the joke to fit the interests of the receiver of the card.

Don't give up.  There is a fine line between creative genius and immature ramblings, so practice until you surprise yourself with something brilliant.  Start with easy cards like birthday and baby shower cards and work your way up to the more difficult cards like get well or sympathy cards.  Remember, sometimes you don't need to be creative, just a sincere, thoughtful message will work.