February over for another

February is over for another year and I have thoroughly enjoyed InCoWriMo. I put  my address (now removed) in a spreadsheet for it, and also on the LetterMo profile (also removed). I have received a fair few letters and I expect more to come in early March as post travels around the world.

Letters Sent to people met through (although this does not include those I wrote on the last day of the month and posted on the first day of the next):

LetterMo/InCoWriMo 2014 - 2
InCoWriMo 2015 - 14
Swap-Bot - 2
Postcrossing - 1
Reddit - 1
5Q5L - 4
LetterMo/InCoWriMo 2016 - 9
Other - 2
SendSomething - 1

Letters and Postcards Received from people met through:

LetterMo 2013 - 2
LetterMo/InCoWriMo 2014 - 3
InCoWriMo 2015 - 17
Swap-Bot - 3
Postcrossing - 4
Reddit - 1
InCoWriMo/LetterMo 2016 - 13
5Q5L - 7
SendSomething - 1
Other - 5

I didn't keep a tally last year.

A week left...

In my last post, I was perhaps lamenting not receiving many surprise letters via LetterMo and InCoWriMo. Well, it was early days. Now, I have over a dozen letters from penpals as well as new contacts. I had a look through my incoming/outgoing logbook, aka my page-a-day diary, and worked out the breakdown this month, up until and including the 20th.

Sent to people met through:

InCoWriMo 2014 - 1
InCoWriMo 2015 - 9
Swap-Bot - 1
Postcrossing - 1
Reddit - 1
5Q5L - 2
LetterMo/InCoWriMo 2016 - 6
Other - 2

Received from people met through:

LetterMo 2013 - 1
InCoWriMo 2014 - 2
InCoWriMo 2015 - 15
Swap-Bot - 3
Postcrossing - 3
Reddit - 1
InCoWriMo/LetterMo 2016 - 8
5Q5L - 5
SendSomething - 1
Other - 2

If I had the inclination, I could check back through my correspondence logbooks/diaries to see from where I had found people to write to, and work out the success rate. I can tell you that Interpals for me has a 0% rate except that it introduced me to Postcrossing where I have found success with finding penpals. I can say that the InCoWriMo/LetterMo penpals have overwhelmingly been quite successful for longterm correspondence, more so than searching through profiles on various sites.

InCoWriMo/LetterMo - deciding who to surprise!

One of the questions popping up is on how do you decide who to write to for LetterMo/InCoWriMo if you do not have ongoing correspondence/friendship.... I joke that I put the names in an imaginary hat and pull one out! What I actually do, is read a few profiles of those participating, and decide on that (whether they say a lot or not), who to write to. Maybe I have been to their hometown or nearby, or we share other hobbies and interests. However, too much commonality I think sometimes does not lead to a successful correspondence (repel - magnets?).
So far, I have received one surprise this month (still early days), but have sent 4 letters to new people.

I don't like the new address book :(

Almost two weeks ago, I decided to start a new address book because I'd filled up all the spaces for surnames beginning with a certain letter. I've now come to the conclusion that I do not like the address book. The addresses look lost in the space given as I do not require a person's email address or various phone numbers.

Part of the problem perhaps is the size of the book. I'm used to a slimline book, but this is A5 size.

I do have other A5 address books yet to write in, at least one has two columns so I could fit more than 3 people on a page.

Finding out......

Friendship can be a funny thing. A true friendship should last a lifetime. However, some people find themselves being frozen out of friendships when one of them becomes a parent. One of the discussions over at s-mail.proboards.com is about friendship cut short because the one finds out the other has children. The same could be true for people without children being dumped by new parents. "How could they possibly understand the commitments and responsibilities that come with having children?" is perhaps one train of thought. I haven't myself lost single/child-free people as friends when I became a mother. I gained "friends" who also were mothers. Parenthood might turn you into a zombie at times but you are still you. You might not be as carefree and fancy-free as you once were, but you are still you. I can understand if people don't telephone you as often because you might have just gotten the baby to sleep, but with penpal letters, this doesn't disturb and the conversation can be continued at whatever time of day or night is convenient. Still, some people seem even uncomfortable continuing penfriendship on finding out their penpal does not have a similar family status.

Browsing penpal site profiles yields those who only want to correspond with other mothers (maybe with at least 2 children only). I can understand if the phrasing was "mainly mothers" because you could potentially share advice, tips and experiences.

One of my best friends here I see regularly does not have children herself (and has never wanted), although she does have 3 generations of German Shepherd dogs and she was also a teacher before retirement. How does the "you wouldn't understand" comment apply to her, as being a teacher and animal companion? She is not a selfish person.

February is nearly upon us!

Today I have been reminded from other blogs that it is National Handwriting Day. I have already done some handwriting as I composed a letter to a penpal. I should be writing more letters later including answering some 5Q5L some people have asked on my snailmail forum. There is still plenty of time to participate this month although I wonder if some members are saving up for the February letter writing frenzy of LetterMo and/or InCoWriMo. 

I have used up the last space in my address book for one of the letters. Do I start a new address book? I still have the Simon Drew address book my mother bought for my birthday a few years ago, as well as others I have bought along the way but haven't started. I suppose I could do with starting afresh as there are people who've moved or not continued with our correspondence. 

Snail Mail - the book

Venturing in to an independent bookshop opens eyes to a different range of books. On the top shelf, I saw the spine of a book in the colours of international correspondence and I reached up to grab it when I saw the title was, "Snail Mail." The secondary title, "Rediscovering the art and craft of handmade correspondence," had me hooked.

I bought the book and proceeded to devour it. In it, there is a section on various forms of communication. The one on e-mail suggests replying within 48 hours. I had a brief foray into email friendship but one e-pal was not happy if I did not reply to his daily emails. There seems to be a sense of urgency with emails requiring attention. Now, the only emails I want to receive are notifications. I rarely read them but their titles are comforting knowing that my Amazon order is on its way.

There are pages on types of mail - writing to congratulate/celebrate events, love letters (does anyone keep love e-mails not printed out?), condolence, fanmail (not a huge fan of this) and even letters to your future self.

There's a little bit on signing on and off. I hadn't thought starting a letter with your penpal's name (with no salutation greeting) as being stern. I do vary the initial greetings depending on mood and penpal. I use - Hi, Hello, Greetings, Dear, Annwyl... As for valedictions, I usually use Best Wishes but the book lists this as a business sign off (I knew that it was from Simon Garfield's book, To The Letter - I'm still plodding through this). I occasionally use Hugs but this is not mentioned.

There are ideas for decorating the snail mail, and there are stickers and labels in the back plus templates for making envelopes.

Another section covers handmade - making papers to write on. One had lines sewn in. Caution though is advised if sending to Australia as they have strict import regulations and post could get destroyed.

There are pages picturing used postage stamps, and some old letters - I can decipher the handwriting. There's a section on fonts, typefaces and handwriting styles. For handwriting, the book suggests trying out both cursive and block, but...

Overall, I am happy I bought this book but it is preaching to the converted. It is a nice book and would make the perfect gift for someone just starting out in the world of penpalling and snail mail.