InCoWriMo 2023

[essayfaire]

What the heck is InCoWriMo?  I saw it mentioned and have seen some pro/con threads, but I'm still a bit confused- is there a webpage with guidelines? Should the correspondence cross national borders?

 

Do tell!  I enjoy writing letters.  

[LizEF]

There's a website: https://incowrimo.org/

 

It explains it all, but basically, you send one letter per day, each day of February.

[essayfaire]

9 hours ago, LizEF said:

There's a website: https://incowrimo.org/

 

It explains it all, but basically, you send one letter per day, each day of February.

Thank you.  I did way better than that, well over 100, at the beginning of the pandemic when the world shut down.  February is a short month, and I neglected to send holiday cards this year...

[amberleadavis]

During the pandemic and during chemo I started writing cards for people in nursing homes.  I did over a thousand.  I still don't think I made a dent in my ink supply.  I also ran out of words so I started writing the same things over and over.  

[LizEF]

You are both rock stars in the letter-writing world!

[essayfaire]

20 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

During the pandemic and during chemo I started writing cards for people in nursing homes.  I did over a thousand.  I still don't think I made a dent in my ink supply.  I also ran out of words so I started writing the same things over and over.  

Huh.  I ran out of people and started writing to people further and further into my past.  Some were to people I had known as a child and haven't seen nor communicated with since.

 

I did run out of my preferred letter-writing stationery, so I actually had to order new supplies.  More than once.

 

Running out of words is usually not one of my difficulties.  Editing them down often is.

 

And think of all the CRVs you've sent out.  Those certainly count!

[amberleadavis]

18 hours ago, essayfaire said:

 

And think of all the CRVs you've sent out.  Those certainly count!

 

[essayfaire]

39 minutes ago, amberleadavis said:

 

You should give yourself more credit!  They may be meditative, but your words in describing the experience you have with pen, ink, paper, and nib are varied and rich, as is your collection of tools to call upon.  Some letters I write quickly, and others I really take my time writing and mull over before I bring pen to paper.  

 

And then I still have the problem of not being able to procure the letter sheets I like in the size I like without paying prices that have become exorbitant.  Letter writing is easier when I have my preferred supplies.

 

 

 

[amberleadavis]

I started using all the "stuff" I had saved over the years. I sent letters on sample wedding invitations.  The paper was great!  I have written letters to my brother on the backs of paper placemats and menus.  Don't let the tools get you stuck!

[essayfaire]

3 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

I started using all the "stuff" I had saved over the years. I sent letters on sample wedding invitations.  The paper was great!  I have written letters to my brother on the backs of paper placemats and menus.  Don't let the tools get you stuck!

I have written on the backs of old change of address notices and baby announcements, but in both cases - I chose the good stuff at the production stage! 😉

[Runnin_Ute]

I have been writing to penpals since 2013, formally participating in Incowrimo since 2014. The last few years I have gotten about 40 or so out. I don't necessarily get a letter out each and every day. I worry about getting out 28 or more. So I might send three one day, then a gap of a day or two, and so on. Last year I had 8 letters out by the 4th, another 5 by the 9th, 7 more by the 15th and so on. (I sent letters on 2/1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, during that stretch-20 letters in 15 days sent on 9 different days.

I include current pen pals AND new people. Both domestic and internationally. Only one or two of the seven or eight new people I wrote to last year are still going on. One in Australia is still going. I just recently sent a response to her most recent letter. Currently there a couple in the UK, Australia, Canada, Norway. At times, there have also been people in the Philippines, Thailand, Brazil, Greece, Netherlands.

[Sailors]

I will be participating for the first time this year. Got a full variety of writing paper and envelops, pens (including different color gel pens cause I love the uni-ball brand), and stamps. The challenge is hand-writing and mailing a letter/card/postcard each day, it does not say it has to be the same item. So I could write a letter the night before, mail it the next day, and that night start writing a new letter for the next day. The other way not to be burned is by sending postcards from time to time. We will see if I could survive this.

[Misfit]

I’m going to participate this year to give myself a kick to get back into letter writing. I’ve left pen pals waiting for over a year now. Plus I have some thank you notes owed to those who helped when I hurt my hip muscle. Last year I thought I’d participate in the library’s Winter Reading Program, but I didn’t like the topic, and was starting solo caregiving at that point. 

[PaperDarts]

I wrote far more letters during Covid lockdown and found it a real comfort. I'm hoping to make it through the entire month this year. So far so good (day three...) 

[essayfaire]

I am participating this year.  I didn't send out holiday cards, so I can write to those I would have then.  Plus some random people from the InCoWriMo website - perhaps they will write back even though I am not posting an address on the site.

 

Three days, three letters. One was an unexpected condolence letter, which was sad and not part of my original correspondence schedule.

[Sailors]

The carrier failed to collect my letter yesterday, as the letter was put in the mailbox I reckon it still counts. Today, two letters (yesterday's and today's) were picked up by the carrier and on their way. Four days, four letters out, letter number 5 has been written and will be out tomorrow. Tonight I am writing number 6. I think it's good idea to be ahead of the game.

[Misfit]

Letters count, even if you write five or six and don’t mail them for a week. I have to write several on one day to catch up.  

[essayfaire]

14 hours ago, Rose Gold said:

Tonight I am writing number 6. I think it's good idea to be ahead of the game.

Good rule of life!

[essayfaire]

Who all is still on track?  A couple days I had to dash off short notes, but on others I composed multi-page letters I would not otherwise have written.

[Sailors]

I am on track. I am a couple of letters ahead, I will be completing this challenge with more than 28 items.