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I will start with some background. I graduated from collage about a year ago and have really slowed in using my pens. I have recently really missed having a reason to put pen to paper and have started to look into getting into letter writing. Other then being of a generation where the pen has been mostly pushed aside for the latest iPhone leading to me not having the best handwriting I have one very dumb question. How important is it to use proper stationary? I only ask as I dont want to seem rude writing on plane printer paper or some other easily accessible paper as long as its not notebook paper.

Tell me more about writing letters. I know the basic idea, where we put the date at the top, words in the middle, and our signature at the end. But for an art steeped in ritual and tradition, I suddenly realized I know next to nothing about the art of writing letters. As I've been practising my penmanship, I got thinking that maybe it would be more fun if I had an external motivation to work on my letters. Maybe finding some penpals would help build my confidence (and help me use up some of my stationary so I have an excuse to buy some more). I found some potential penpals, but when I sat down to write a letter, I realized I know nothing about the modern patterns of writing letters by hand. So I do what I always do when I don't know enough: I head to the library. My library has 9 books about writing letters; all but one (an example of historical letters) written in the 1980s. It seems to be a time when the art of letter writing was fading so quickly, that people desperately tried to keep it alive by setting out really strict rules that no one would ever be able to live up to. The three exact shades of blue or blue-black, and one shade of black that were appropriate for writing, the weight of paper and the kind of watermark for each kind of letter, seems a bit stuffy to me. Another book begins by stating how it is going to avoid letter writing history because it is boring and unnecessary, then promptly spends three chapters talking about exactly that. The rest of the content was about business letters... all very boring. Time to ask the experts. I want to know your thoughts about letter writing. What is your favourite historical letter writing tradition? What tradition or ritual are you glad to see disappear? Is it still considered a grave offence to use coloured ink (especially green)? Or maybe it's okay in certain occasions? What format do you make your letter? Is it still "the worst of all sins" (as one book put it) to use a return address label? What words of encouragement do you have for someone new to letter writing?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/03/experience-writing-french-pen-pal-81-years

There's a piece on letter writing in the December 11, 2017 issue on the Washington Post by Tim Johnson: Weary of the Internet, I went back to mail. 108 letters later, here’s what I learned. "I wrote one letter every day, to someone I knew or used to know or wanted to know better."

The Boston Globe recently interviewed Crane & Co. creative director John Segal. http://postscript.crane.com/paper-habits-boston-globe/http://postscript.crane.com/paper-habits-boston-globe/ Reminds me of visiting my Uncle John's print shop as a kid. Happy reading and writing.

I found the attached postcard with a reproduction of a British WWII poster encouraging letter writing instead of using the telephone. The text reads "Think ahead, write instead." The design is by noted graphic artist Hans Schleger, who went by "ZERO." Presumably, the government meant to reduce the use of telephone lines--a scarce commodity in war time? I wonder if a similar campaign was mounted elsewhere. Also, I wonder if much has been written about government attempts to encourage letter writing. Now would be a good time for one, if only to prop up the sale of first class stamps!

Continuing on a theme of letter writing to some extent.... It wasn't all that long ago in the USA that interstate long-distance calling was a battleground for companies, "local long distance" phone charges were real (and really expensive), and that letter writing was more common well before then. Yesterday I did something that I realized I haven't done in a long time: I wrote a handwritten letter to respond to a handwritten letter. I commented on this to a few people and I've had some good conversation around it and the nostalgia of writing letters. Yet I digress. We have the FPN Post Office, and there's a similar and very long thread on another forum site that is just fascinating to read. Even though a lot of is mundane - "I sent X letters out and Y came in" - I put together that there are some writers out that that can crank out the volume. There's also InCoWriMo, which challenges people to hand-write and post (or deliver) one item for each day of February (more or less). So I ask FPN today: How many handwritten items do you put in the mail on an average week? For sake of simplicity, let's define it as letters and postcards; no greeting cars, bill payments or strictly packages. If you sent something along with the letter as part of a package (example: you sent a pen along with a letter in a box), count that as a letter. If you don't want to comment, feel free to respond to the poll anyway. I think I have all of the bases covered, but if not I'll see if a mod can adjust it. (editing: struck cards (like greeting cards) from the list to be consistent with the FPN post office).

I'm considering writing letters again. On most days I have a few moments at work when I need to stare at a blank piece of paper, because my eyeballs have been glued to a computer screen for hours. For those of you who write letters, want to write letters, or have the materials to write letters and can't get to it - what do you carry around with you on a daily basis? Obviously I need paper, pen, perhaps envelopes and stamps, but I'm looking for more specifics with what you personally carry with you to write a letter if the mood strikes. Knowing how many letters you write (or try to write) in a day or a week is also helpful for context. Bonus points for those who share what they carry it all in, for organization's sake.