Many of Hallmark's Valentine's Day cards are filled with words of love. You could say Melvina Young knows them by heart - because she wrote them.
"My sweet spot is deeply romantic stuff. What I call true love," said Young, one of Hallmark's senior writers.
Young works with a team of 25 Hallmark writers. Together, they've written countless Valentines.
"What I consider my sweet spot is sort of close to funny but not quite funny," said Andrew Blackburn, another senior writer.
Many of their cards that are on shelves now were written more than a year ago.
"Obviously our personal experience with love and romance and the whole thing comes into it, but a big part of this job is empathy. You really have to be able to put yourself in the middle of someone else's relationship in an authentic way so it doesn't feel like you're intruding," said Young.
But what about when their words on the card end and yours begin? Well, they have plenty of advice for what to write on the bottom of the card.
"The important thing is to say it in a way that feels real for you so that you don't end up sounding corny or trite," said Young. "Is there a special name, a special memory, a special experience that's only between the two of you, that you could put in this card that would make this person feel like I am really deeply known by the person that matters the most to me?"
It's a lesson in the language of love from the people who write it.
"How many jobs are there where you get to come in and say, 'Today, I'm going to focus on love and what it means to people,'" said Young.
For much more information on how to write the perfect note in your card, click here.
More from the writers of Hallmark cards:
How do you decide what to write in the cards?
"We're listening very carefully to what consumers want to say to the people they love so we can serve them emotionally," said Young.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
"Some of it has to come from your own personal experience I think and the way you experience the world and relationships, but you gotta be able to get inside other people's heads," said Blackburn.
How do you decide what to write to your own wife in a Hallmark card?
"I try to think, is there something that I've been thinking about, even lately? Is there something about her lately that maybe I haven't said to her? This is a good chance to say those kinds of things," said Blackburn.
Do you give your significant others only cards that you wrote?
"Sometimes, but sometimes another writer might say it better," said Young, laughing.
Why do you love this job?
"When someone falls in love, we get to be there, when a baby is born, we get to be there, when someone dies, we get to be there. So we take all of that very seriously," said Young.
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Justin Wilfon can be reached at justin.wilfon@kshb.com.
