InCoWriMo: The Letter Writing Challenge

Maybe you’ve heard of NaNoWriMo. It is National Novel Writing Month, which is a mega writing challenge held in November. Many of your favorite authors participate in some form of it every year. But here’s a writing challenge for EVERY one!

InCoWriMo is the International Correspondence Writing Month. It’s a letter writing challenge held in February. Who knew?!

I ran across it for the first time just two days ago, but already I’m smitten with the concept.

Do you love old-fashioned mail just like I do?

Have you secretly been meaning to dust off your address book and write a letter or two? Or at the very least a card for no reason at all?

Do you have cool stationery? Or do you make cards? Bought a really cool calligraphy pen or wax sealing kit?

If you said to any of those questions, then maybe this challenge is right up your alley. Here’s what you need to know:

~ It starts today and lasts all month long.
~ There’s likely a nifty group online where you can exchange addresses with strangers in order to swap letters. (You’ll have to do your own research for all that, though.)
~ This is a flexible challenge, so make it what you want!

I prefer to approach challenges like this with a little more flexibility, so here are some InCoWriMo alternatives for you:

Birthday Cards! Maybe you don’t have the time to write 28 full length letters. What if your challenge this month was to purchase and sign all the birthday cards you’ll need throughout the year? It’s okay if you don’t have 28 people to send them to. This challenge is just getting your entire list done, no matter how many that winds up as.

Christmas Cards! Hey, it’s never too early to get a jump on things. Maybe you always mean to send out Christmas cards but you run out of time in December. Here is the perfect solution! Fill them out in February.

Valentine Cards! I mean, it IS February. Get creative. Consider making something like you used to in elementary school. OR pick up a pack of children’s Valentine cards to hand out. Lol Adults don’t do this anymore but it can still be a fun way to brighten someone’s day.

Letters! But maybe 28 is a challenge too steep. Consider writing just one a week or one really good letter to an old friend.

Thank you cards! We typically think about thank you cards after a wedding or a baby shower. But look around you. Who in your life deserves a sweet, heartfelt thank you? Your mailman? Your mother? Your child? Your neighbor? Your pastor?

Email your favorite authors! Now this is a challenge that I hope at least one of you picks up. Make a list of 28 authors you love reading, find their email addresses on their websites, and send them a word of encouragement and let them know how much you enjoy their work. Be sure to tell them which of their books you love the most and why. This can be a really meaningful way to reach out … and save on stamps if that’s a concern. 😉

Text or Email! The challenge was to get back to the classic form of communication, but you know … any sweet message will do, especially if you have 28 people you’ve lost contact with over the years. Don’t let the workload of handwriting letters or the price of stamps keep you from reaching out with your sweet messages. Contact your list any way you can. They’ll be glad to hear from you no matter how you did it.

Talk to me! Are you as excited about InCoWriMo as I am? Are you planning to take on the challenge this month?
I’m hoping to fill out birthday cards this month.