Welcome! This is the first of a new series on Letter Writing. Through this series we hope to explore the wondrous world of analog correspondence as creative practice, the excitement of snail mail clubs, and how individual artists have grown through their own letter writing practice. If you are interested in developing a letter writing habit, join us on this journey into one of the world’s oldest methods of long distance communication.
Last year, while visiting my grandparents, my Grandma mentioned she had a gift for me. As she dug through drawers and closets in search of this surprise, she found what she was looking for. Inside of a blue freezer ziplock bag she had saved every letter I wrote her while I was in college. Inside of the pouch were almost 30 handwritten letters. Each letter was filled from edge to edge with details of my days and all the news that one has at 19 years old. The cards were a wonderful mix of artist prints, fun stationary collections, and even a few water color postcards I had made myself. It was a collection, an archive, and it was a wonderful reminder that, at one time, letter writing was an everyday creative practice. One that has the gift of lasting much longer than the few moments it takes to sit down and write.
In college, when classes and studying and working and being a human slowly started to overwhelm me, I found letter writing a necessary solace. It was a low commitment creative activation that required me to take a break from my grueling class assignments and engage in something different. It provided a reflection on my life and how I was spending my time, and it offered me a way to connect with family and friends while I was far away. Although my practice of writing letters has slowed since college, I maintain that letter writing is a valid access point for anyone who is looking to deepen or develop their writing or creating practice. And as many of us are looking for ways to engage offline, and find new (old) ways to connect, letter writing has and will continue to be there for us.
So, here is a non-exhaustive list of why we love letter writing, and how to start your own analog correspondence habit:
The Letter is the Prompt
It can feel impossible to look at a blank canvas and come up with something to create. Letter writing offers an answer to every reason why we might create. The letter itself offers the prompt (to connect with the reader), the act implies an audience to cater to, and you are often working on a rough timeline (especially when you start a regular correspondence). Many of the obstacles that make it hard to write or create anything are remedied when given the task to write a letter.
Obviously it provides the motivation to write but it can also encourage the creation itself. Consider all of the elements of the letter writing process as you write. Give thought to the entirety of the experience for your letter receiver: from retrieving the letter from their mailbox, opening, reading, and responding! Each element offers you an opportunity to be creative and intentional in your letter creation.
Make it a Habit
The best thing (to me!) about writing letters is their habitual nature. Whether you have a regular pen pal or not, there is almost always a reason to write a letter. It can be a birthday, celebration, thank you card, or any number of other reasons to reach out that may pull you towards your writing table. Instead of seeing each letter as an obligation, how would seeing them as an opportunity to be creative change the way you interact with the letter itself?
Try making a habit or ritual around sending mail to the folks you love whenever a celebration comes around. You’ll probably find yourself setting inside time to write/create a letter a few times a month.
Here are some of my favorite DIY cards to get inspired by:
Make your own thank you card!, This cool embossed card & photo combo, and these sick decorated envelopes.
Fill Envelopes with Treasures
Your letter writing does not have to start and end with just what is on the paper. The entire envelope itself can offer an experience in enjoyment and wonder. There are tons of artists offering mail club memberships where a monthly mail subscription comes with an envelope filled with sweet paper gifts like stickers, notes, temporary tattoos, punch cards, and more. You can do this too! All those stickers you’ve been collecting, tiny tarot cards, fortunes from fortune cookies, tiny maps, zines, and more… can fit inside envelopes and be sent out like letters. Maybe you include an element of foraging in your letter writing practice, or you just sneak in little gifts for your reader. Whatever you decide, it adds to the excitement, the whimsy, and the creativity.
Lil tip: you may want to send those extra filled envelopes with two stamps, just to be safe!
Treat the whole process as the art
The letter itself is special, of course, and should certainly be the center of attention. However, the envelope, the stamp, the address can all be a part of your creative process. Each element offers something new to consider. Can you make your own envelope out of recycled paper or a cool magazine spread you’ve been saving? How might you want to address the letter, is there a new type of calligraphy you want to try, or do you want to make your own borders using a linocut stamp? I love letters like this one, that make the entire thing feel special.
Indulge in treats of the trade
Finally, if you really want to dive deeper into the practice of letter writing it could be fun to invest in some letter writing specific crafty tools. In NYC my favorite stationary shops like Greenwich Letter Press, niconeco zakkaya, and Yours, Truly have an abundance of fun stationery, wax seals, stamps, stickers, tapes, etc. All of which makes letter writing that much more fun. So as to not lean too far into consumerism, I like to set goals for myself that then result in a reward to continue reaching that goal. For example, if you write 5 letters, maybe you gift yourself a new pad of stationery and so on. Positive reinforcement is totally allowed!
Bonus: Anything can be a letter
When I worked as a camp counselor I will never forget when a camper ran out of the office carrying a giant coconut and exclaimed “My parents sent me a coconut!” While she missed the fruiting of the coconut trees at her family home, her parents were able to get a packing slip, attach it to the shell itself and send it all the way to northern Wisconsin. And I watched in utter amazement and inspiration, You can truly mail anything. To me this is exciting and inspiring, and it makes the idea of a pen pal or a letter writing habit totally boundless and completely experimental. Imagine all the objects you could write a letter on, stick in your post box with a stamp or two, and wonder if it will ever make it into the proper hands.
Of course this newsletter is an encouragement to start your own letter writing habit, but we are confident that you will find as you start to receive letters in return the excitement and energy around your own practice will multiply. It is truly a gift that keeps on giving. And the commitment will come easier and easier.
Continue your Letter Writing Immersion:
A list of letter-writing resources for the creative and hopeful heart
No. 39: A Love Letter to Writing Letters - Draw Your World
the letter writing challenge - by Julianna Salguero
Something to discover: Posthouse has an entire database of snail mail clubs to join! If you are looking for a physical mailing list that aligns with your most unique interests, explore tons of different snail mail groups, and subscribe to the one that excites you most!
Something to do: Join a letter writing club! There are tons of groups meeting regularly to write letters to different folks in need. Of course I encourage you to find a group that is close to your heart and in your own community, but if you are in NYC two groups I like are: Letter writing to Political Prisoners at Ridgewood Commons and the Letter Writing Club at the Park Slope Public Library.
Something to listen to: This podcast episode from Life Kit on all things letter writing. Rachel Syme, a staff writer for the New Yorker dives deeply into the lost art of letter writing based on her book Syme’s Letter Writer, a guide to the joys of handwritten letters.
XX - zibby & Team RecCreate
If you’re new around here— hello! We’re a creative hospitality studio in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn that lives and breathes creativity and community.
We host weekly IRL art and craft gatherings in NYC, partner with brands and orgs on experiential activations and write this sweet lil newsletter on our creative obsessions a few times a month.
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