The Washington Post has a fascinating, in-depth look at the creative process of writing greeting cards. As most writers know, skillful brevity is the most difficult creative task. For their talents, greeting card writers get ranked below romance novelists by fellow writers, but at least they are on salary. The greeting card business is nothing to sneeze at; the companies have their own lobbying group. Card creators try to respond quickly to tragedies and changing sentiments. Ultimately, the writers want to give people a way to communicate their true feelings. The author learns how successful that can be when he visits his mother at the end of the piece. (via Pop Culture Junkmail)