New Year eCard

Look backwards before you look forwards. Naming something specific from the past year, a moment you shared, something they did for you, a change worth marking, makes the card personal in a way that wishes for the coming year cannot.

One warm, unspecific hope for the year ahead is plenty after that.

Send it on New Year's Day or in the first week of January. Midnight on the 31st is the noisiest possible moment, and anything sent then competes with dozens of identical messages.

A card arriving on the 2nd or 3rd, when things are quiet, gets read properly.

No. New Year greetings are generally accepted through the whole of January, and a card arriving mid-month stands out precisely because the rush is over.

If the delay is on your mind, name it lightly and move on. Nobody minds.

Yes, and it is one of the best excuses there is. The occasion means you do not have to explain why you are getting in touch after a long silence, which is the hardest part of reconnecting.

Keep it warm, skip the apology for the gap, and leave the door open rather than asking for anything.

Wishes for prosperity, health and good fortune are traditional, and naming the animal of the year is a warm touch. Lunar New Year falls on a different date each year, usually between late January and mid-February.

The message field is free text, so you can write in whichever language and register suits the recipient.

Only lightly, and preferably as a joke. Resolutions are private business, and a card wishing someone luck with self-improvement can read as a comment on them.

Wishing them a good year, or more of something they enjoyed, is warmer than wishing them a more disciplined one.