Valentine’s Day is coming up, and on Feb. 13, you’ll see the card aisles full of men looking for just the right greeting card online on obich.net. When they can’t find it, they will settle for something close.

Historically, men have had problems expressing their feelings to the women they love. Yet, most women will tell you they would rather receive a heartfelt letter from their man than some generic message from Hallmark.

Are you one of those men who is looking to do something different for your sweetie? Then, make her swoon by skipping the greeting cards and writing her something she won’t forget. It’s not as hard as you think it is.

First, use her name, or her pet name as much as possible –

The reason greeting cards don’t have as much effect as actual letters are they can be given to any woman, not just your significant other. Love letters are better because they are personalized. And, that personalization starts with a name. Use her name as much as possible; to prove you were thinking about her when you were writing it.

Don’t just tell her she’s beautiful, be more specific –

One of the first notes I wrote to my wife was a note comparing her beauty to that of a sunset (in which the sunset lost). In fact, her nickname since then has been Sunset. One of the best things you can do in a letter is to be as specific as possible. If you love her eyes, tell her and tell her why; “I love your green eyes because they remind me of precious emeralds.” Again, it’s about being specific to her, so she knows she’s the only one you would say stuff like that to.

Bring back old times –

One of the hardest things about writing a love letter is finding ways to make the person you’re writing to fall in love with you again. An easy way of doing this is by picking a romantic event you two shared, like your honeymoon or your first date or maybe even that time when you were fooling around like a couple of kids in the rain.

Tell her how she makes you feel –

This is hard for many men but it is the most important thing about a letter because, if you have difficulty telling her in person, it might be the only time she hears it. Again, it’s important to be specific. Don’t just say “I love you” tell her why; I love you because you always manage to make me laugh or I love you because you are the one person I feel I can tell all my secrets to or even something like I don’t know if I could live if I didn’t have you to spend my life with.

You may not be Shakespeare but, if you follow the simple steps above, you will be able to write her something that will move her more than any of his sonnets could.