The good folks behind InCoWriMo (International Correspondence Writing Month) have marked February as the month to get back into “vintage social media” – handwritten letters. And it’s true! Before the days of email, Instagram and smartphones, people put pencil to paper to catch up with their friends and family.
There is something genuine and moving about connecting in this way. Finding a personal letter in your mailbox is something special, particularly in today’s age of incessant bills and advertisements. People save these special letters, but a text or Facebook post is fleeting – and the connections made in that way tend to fade, too.
So recapture some of the magic of pen pals by taking part in InCoWriMo this year. With the aim of writing the equivalent of one piece of correspondence each day (don’t worry, it’s the shortest month of the year!), #InCoWriMo is an easy challenge to join. Check out their website to get involved and take your letter-writing pledge. To help you out, here are twenty-eight prompts to get you started on your writing campaign.
Dear [insert recipient’s name here]…
- You won’t believe what I just did…
- Today I saw a…
- A favourite memory I have of us is…
- Remember that time we…
- Have you seen…
- I hope you’re having a great day and really enjoying…
- I’m writing letters for InCoWriMo and wanted to send one to you because…
- One thing that always reminds me of you…
- I can’t believe this was in the news today…
- I’m thinking about the first time we met, when…
- Thank you for being a part of my life, especially…
- I appreciate our friendship because…
- One thing you do that always cheers me up is…
- Next time we get together, I would love to…
- I’m reading this book and think you would like it…
- Something interesting going on in my town right now is…
- When I woke up today, I thought…
- Something I really want to share with you is…
- One thing I really value about you is…
- Something you do better than anyone else is…
- A new project I want to start is…
- Something happened the other day that made me think of you…
- I wanted to send you this letter because…
- One thing I’ve always wanted to tell you is…
- My favourite inside joke we share is…
- The best meal we’ve ever shared was…
- One thing I’m looking forward to is…
- InCoWriMo challenged me to write letters – will you be my pen pal?
Want to take these prompts on the go? They’re now available in our Journal Prompts App along with other great journalling and writing ideas!
About Paperblanks: 25 years ago, we created Paperblanks to help keep book heritage alive and vital in our modern age, and to offer an inspiring space for people to express themselves. Thanks for joining us on this journey! For more about Paperblanks, go to our website at paperblanks.com.
I really love this concept. Admittedly, I keep a letter writing journal but tend to write letters to those who have passed or wronged me or had unfinished business…never letters that I’ve sent to the recipient. What a lovely idea to use letter writing to reflect on positive memories or compliment others. I’ll be doing this!
Thanks for sharing, Deb! Sometimes unsent letters can be just as cathartic, if not more, than ones that do get delivered. We are glad you’ve found an outlet for your unfinished business, or words you need to express but are best left unsaid.
We hope you’ll enjoy sending positive letters now, too!