February is nearly here. It brings with it so many ways to write more letters. Between Valentines, InCoWriMo and Month of Letters, I expect to see some very full mailboxes!
First up is Month of Letters. This annual challenge is one where I think every L.W.A. member should participate. The rules are simple.
1. Write a letter every day.
2. Return every letter you receive.
That's it. The creator of Month of Letters is my pen pal and L.W.A. member Mary Robinette Kowal. She says you don't have to write on Sundays or Presidents Day, but I think you should anyway. You can get invovled by signing up over at Month of Letters. They have a fun things section and an active blog for letter projects. As a bonus, this is a Leap Year. One extra day of letter writing! To help you out, we've produced an L.W.A. Member Month of Letters Survival Kit. It has 25 different mailable pieces: 5 full sheets, 10 half sheets, 10 assorted postcards, and 15 envelopes (5 air mail and 10 Letter Writers Alliance envelopes). It all comes in a portfolio envelope so that you can take it on the go.
Next, InCoWriMo as the cool kids call it. That's International Correspondence Writing Month. If LetterMo (so many nicknames!) isn't enough for you, why not take on this project as well. It's a similar concept. Write one letter, everyday of the month. You can take a picture of your letter and submit to the InCoWriMo site. It might be their "Letter du Jour" on their blog.
Time to get offline and get busy! Write more letters!
Neither of the sites have been updated for 2016—are we 10-4 that they're both okay…?
Posted by: Reg | January 27, 2016 at 02:27 PM
SO EXCITED.
Posted by: Beth | January 27, 2016 at 03:53 PM
Disappointed the sites do not reflect 2016!! I've been a participant in this for several years now and don't want to miss it for this year BUT I would want to have the current year on the great looking sticker that I cut & glue on each piece of correspondence.
Posted by: Linda | January 27, 2016 at 06:41 PM
The project doesn't work any more?
Posted by: Vikky | January 28, 2016 at 05:15 AM
I know that Month of Letters is active since I am in contact with the organizer. I cant say the same for InCoWriMo, but there are places putting out packs for InCoWriMo; so I think its probably all about to rev up Feb 1st.
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Giving you the tools online so you can get offline and write more letters.
Founded 2007 | Kathy Donovan
www.letterwriters.org
Posted by: Kathy Zadrozny | January 28, 2016 at 08:35 AM
Month of Letters certainly is. Less sure about InCoWriMo.
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Giving you the tools online so you can get offline and write more letters.
Founded 2007 | Kathy Donovan
www.letterwriters.org
Posted by: Kathy Zadrozny | January 28, 2016 at 08:36 AM
Thats a great point Linda. Id like stickers too, but a better place to tell them so is on their site. I doubt they look over here. I know they are getting active for February since I have spoken with the organizer.
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Giving you the tools online so you can get offline and write more letters.
Founded 2007 | Kathy Donovan
www.letterwriters.org
Posted by: Kathy Zadrozny | January 28, 2016 at 08:38 AM
We're releasing the new participant badge on Sunday. I decided to update it totally, instead of just doing the new date on the old badge. The other aspects of the site should be current though.
Posted by: Mary Robinette Kowal | January 28, 2016 at 09:31 AM
I participated in InCoWriMo two years in a row and what I quickly realized was the point is to write letters, NOT establish a correspondence. Out of the 40 plus people I wrote to, two were interested in actually corresponding rather than just sending a letter once. That might be perfect for some people, but it was really disappointing to me.
Posted by: Tamra Orr | January 28, 2016 at 11:20 AM
The last two years, the stationery companies hello! lucky and egg press have done a write_on campaign in April. They send out little free kits with some of their cards and last year Sakura added a gel pen. I don't know if they're planning on doing it again this year. The premise is basically the same as month of letters. But it's hard to do three straight months of letter-writing if you want to participate in them all. Could be a fun challenge though...
Posted by: Cindy R. | January 30, 2016 at 07:55 AM
Can I still write to the people on the list of the InCoWriMo's 2015 "29 people who would Love to receive your letters"? Or better wait until February begins?
Posted by: Yuri | January 30, 2016 at 09:34 AM
I dont see why you cant go ahead. After all, itll arrive in February.
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Giving you the tools online so you can get offline and write more letters.
Founded 2007 | Kathy Donovan
www.letterwriters.org
Posted by: Kathy Zadrozny | January 30, 2016 at 07:44 PM
It's the 2015 list and this is already 2016 now.
That is why I hesitate using it.
Posted by: Yuri | January 31, 2016 at 07:15 AM
I'm super excited for another year of lettermo! The kit you made is such a cute design, I love it. See you in the mail! >>--->
Posted by: Olivia Arrow | January 31, 2016 at 10:04 AM
Unfortunately, we dont know them personally. One can hope. Perhaps send them a digital query?
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Giving you the tools online so you can get offline and write more letters.
Founded 2007 | Kathy Donovan
www.letterwriters.org
Posted by: Kathy Zadrozny | January 31, 2016 at 04:53 PM