HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR CORRESPONDENCE?

[cedargirl]

I’m really enjoying InCoWriMo – the gift that goes on giving!

As well as enjoying the exchanges, it’s thrown me into problem solving mode. Specifically, how to keep track of addresses, letters in and out, inks and papers used, etc.
This didn’t fit into my current contacts database. It’s not like me to be this anal, but I felt the need to do it properly. So I went looking.

I found a free program called E-Z Contact Book. It seems to be working for me for all my InCoWriMo and InCo Pen Pals addresses.
It has a notes section for each contact where I can track dates of letters in and out as well as inks/papers used.
I can create various groups to suit, including one called “For Reply” so no-one gets forgotten.

But I’m interested in what others do.

Do you track this sort of stuff?

If so, how? Electronically? A physical letter filing system? By memory?
Do you just wing it? Are you a glutton for surprise and the unexpected?

Also, how do you keep track of what’s been said, especially with lots of people on your list?

I’m new to this and it’s easy for me at the moment. But I worry that down the track I’m just going to get repetitive and boring.
Well, maybe I am already! In which case, I promise to get better.

I’d love to hear how you manage this sort of thing. Or not!

[TheRoXFiles]

Well...my system for InCoWriMo has been to use a spiral-bound notebook to write all my letters. The notebook has a perforated edge to give a clean looking page when I tear it out.

On the first page, I've kept a list of who's gotten a letter from me, along with the date I've written each one. If I'm replying to someone's letter, I jot that down too. I'm now up to my second page of recipients. (And the notebook's almost empty, so I'm gonna have to tear that "sent" list out and stick that in the next notebook.)

For addresses, well...most of the InCo penpals have their name and info available here at the forum, so if I'm ever in doubt, I can look that up.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not concerned about remembering everything I've talked about in my letters. I'll be reminded of some of the things I've talked about, based on what my penpals say to me in their reply letters. But it's okay with me that I don't remember exactly what I've said. I think that not remembering everything is good because there's wiggle room for opening up new topics of conversation.

Also: I've kept every single letter I've gotten since last month. I've kept them in a plastic box, in no specific order, and I don't intend to throw out a single one. I think I'll have to buy more (or bigger) plastic boxes instead once this one is crammed full. :P But yeah...InCoWriMo (and now "InCo" without the "WriMo") means a great deal to me.

[writingrav]

My system until incowrimo was to keep a letter journal. I write every letter in the journal and then copy it to stationary for mailing. All letters I receive are hole punched and filed in a looseleaf under a divider by name. However, the number of incowrimos letters swamped this system. I just wrote the first letters.However coreespondances that have continued past one letter revert to the regular system.

[cedargirl]

Hi TheRoXFiles

I can see how the list in the notebook would work. That's a nice easy system.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not concerned about remembering everything I've talked about in my letters. I'll be reminded of some of the things I've talked about, based on what my penpals say to me in their reply letters. But it's okay with me that I don't remember exactly what I've said. I think that not remembering everything is good because there's wiggle room for opening up new topics of conversation.

Also: I've kept every single letter I've gotten since last month. I've kept them in a plastic box, in no specific order, and I don't intend to throw out a single one. I think I'll have to buy more (or bigger) plastic boxes instead once this one is crammed full. :P But yeah...InCoWriMo (and now "InCo" without the "WriMo") means a great deal to me.

I see what you mean about remembering some of what you said based on the replies you get, and having some wiggle room. I'm glad you've found that works OK.

I, too, have been keeping all the letters I receive. They are just so lovely. And I like having the samples of ink and paper. It's given me a few ideas for adding to my wish list. (No! Someone stop me. Don't spend any more money!)

[cedargirl]

My system until incowrimo was to keep a letter journal. I write every letter in the journal and then copy it to stationary for mailing. All letters I receive are hole punched and filed in a looseleaf under a divider by name. However, the number of incowrimos letters swamped this system. I just wrote the first letters.However coreespondances that have continued past one letter revert to the regular system.

I know what you mean by being swamped! But I was coming off a base of zero. I was surprised and delighted by all of the letters.

So, with your system for your regulars, you have a complete record of what you've written ans well as what's been written to you. Do you refer back through the history before writing your letters?

[TheRoXFiles]

Hi TheRoXFiles

I can see how the list in the notebook would work. That's a nice easy system.

I see what you mean about remembering some of what you said based on the replies you get, and having some wiggle room. I'm glad you've found that works OK.

I, too, have been keeping all the letters I receive. They are just so lovely. And I like having the samples of ink and paper. It's given me a few ideas for adding to my wish list. (No! Someone stop me. Don't spend any more money!)

Well--my system works well for me because I spend so much of my time on-the-go. The nice thing about using a spiral-bound notebook is that all the letters will stay in one place and won't get messed up. I can keep them in the notebook and tear them out when I'm ready to put them into envelopes.

It also helps to get the spiral-bound notebooks that have at least one folder-y pocket in them. The one I have has two pockets. What I like to do is keep the penpal mail in one pocket, then move them to the other pocket when I've read them. (I open the letters right away and stick them in that one pocket, then read them one by one as I'm writing responses, so I don't want to get them mixed up.) I also like keeping some spare envelopes in the pockets, too, just in case.

[writingrav]

I know what you mean by being swamped! But I was coming off a base of zero. I was surprised and delighted by all of the letters.

So, with your system for your regulars, you have a complete record of what you've written ans well as what's been written to you. Do you refer back through the history before writing your letters?

Yes. I usually re-read my last letter quickly before stating a reply to an intervening letter.

[manoeuver]

unreplied-to mail is in a pile on the left. replied-to mail is in a pile on the right. I've got a backlog of 16 letters right now- hope to knock out 3 this morning before work.

no lists, scans or notes. life's too short! Most of my ramblings are bizarre enough that I won't repeat myself.

I do reread a received letter as I write a reply. Many of you writers ask very good questions.

[Tracy Lee]

unreplied-to mail is in a pile on the left. replied-to mail is in a pile on the right. I've got a backlog of 16 letters right now- hope to knock out 3 this morning before work.

no lists, scans or notes. life's too short! Most of my ramblings are bizarre enough that I won't repeat myself.

I do reread a received letter as I write a reply. Many of you writers ask very good questions.

This is my system too, only reverse the left and right. I have about the same needing replies, plus two received yesterday. I am going to work through the pile this weekend. I will be gone the first two+ weeks of April and want to leave with a clean slate. For any received while gone, my husband and I have a plan. I am taking pens and paper and all of that with me, he will scan incoming letters and email them so I can have them handy while writing back. Then I can enjoy them fresh when I get home.

[fountainpenkid]

I just pile up all the letters I've recieved and read in one pile, and put all the envelopes in another pile. Letters that I haven't replied to yet are kept in their envelope at the top of the envelope pile.
I haven't made any sort of contacts list...I simply look back at the envelopes when I want to write to someone.

[PostMuse]

I have a rather extensive spreadsheet database to keep track of incoming. It has the day received, name, brief description of correspondence and a column for "age" that has a formula so it always tells me exactly how long that piece of mail has been waiting for response. I get a huge volume of mail, so having such a database is very important for keeping me from getting overwhelmed. The spreadsheet has a second page for me to move replied mail to once I've put it in the mailbox. I note the date sent and keep track of how long it took me to respond. My average turnaround is 20 days, but at the moment up around 35 days, and I think that is going to be my new average.

On the outgoing mail I keep all addresses in a digital address book ... Mac Address Book ... that syncs to my phone so I have it with me at all time. At the moment my address book has 9,902 contacts. On each contact card I note what stationery I sent, and when I sent it and sometimes why I sent it (thank you for Orphaned Postcard Project participation ... congrats on new job ... etc). Some of my contacts have pages and pages of entries, but most only have one or two entries because I include all my Postcrossing sends in my address book and those are typically, but not always, one time only connections.

Incoming mail is stored in a mail sorter that looks like this one, but I am seriously considering buying a surplus USPS mail sorter because it is crazy trying to stuff my mail in those tiny slots, and at the end of the month, I usually have mail from the beginning of the month still unanswered so there is no place to put the new mail.

I have various systems for storing incoming mail, none of them satisfactory, and none of them worth noting. I struggle with that all the time. I really need a storage facility where I can catalog and store everything nice and proper, but that isn't going to happen.

Keeping track of what has been written becomes easier as you get to know someone. I know I repeat myself on occasion, but that's okay. Mostly I try to keep to what is going on right at the moment when I am writing. I used to keep copies of letters, but I know that if I tried that again, it would bog me down. I often write on the go, and I don't want to have to carry around copies of letters because goodness knows I'm already carrying a small person on my back with just the incoming, ALL my pens, extra ink, stationery, postage (I keep about $200 on hand at all times), and the other sundry mail enthusiast accoutrements.

[fountainpenkid]

That is a TON of letters postmuse!!! I wish I was bogged down with letters like you are!

[gwgtaylor]

I created a neat system with my phone. I'm using box.com combined with a free app called genius scan.

On box.com I create a folder for each person I correspond with. In this folder I upload a screen cap of address from the forum or a snapshot of address from received letter. That's how I save and track addresses.

As far as what I send, I take a picture with genius scan and save as PDF to box.com. I can then refer back to what I've written and inks used. Each file is also automatically date stamped.

I'm pretty proud of my system. Let me know what you think.

-gerald

[vhr5]

Hello, I really don't have an advanced system at this time, although I have taken a moment to add everyone whom I have ever corresponded with to my Gmail contact list under a separate tag (InCoWriMo). Therefore, I can always access the mailing addresses through my smartphone, with referring to the envelopes or my computer.

I've been keeping all of my incoming letters on my desk in a pile and I move them into another pile when I am finished writing that person a letter. Instead of keeping a log, I'm trying to paint a mental picture of each person I write to, in the same way we mentally paint a picture of someone we hear over the radio. There is a place for notes within my Gmail Contacts, so if I need to, I can write a quick note to myself about something sent, received, etc.

I try to base my letters off of what the other person has stated in their letter. I also try to remind them or rephrase what they mentioned to me in my letters. I will try not to repeat myself, but I am human and I will understand if others repeat themselves also. Sometimes I refer back to older letters to provide myself with some history and perhaps start new topic.

I too have kept every letter, postcard, and note that has ever been sent to me currently and during InCoWriMo, they are all special to me! As my correspondence pile as it grows, I plan to keep all the letters, etc in a plastic storage box. Since, I haven't received much correspondence as others on this forum has, my current pile is manageable. I'm sure as time passes my system will evolve and change.

[fountainpenkid]

It seems like you people don't reply to the letters you receive on the day you get them...is this why y'all need these systems, or are you all getting TONS of letters?

[KrazyIvan]

I created a neat system with my phone. I'm using box.com combined with a free app called genius scan.

On box.com I create a folder for each person I correspond with. In this folder I upload a screen cap of address from the forum or a snapshot of address from received letter. That's how I save and track addresses.

As far as what I send, I take a picture with genius scan and save as PDF to box.com. I can then refer back to what I've written and inks used. Each file is also automatically date stamped.

I'm pretty proud of my system. Let me know what you think.

-gerald

Yours is the system I would probably go with, if I have too simple of a system.

I keep unread letters with me. I write whenever I get a chance so having the letters with me makes it easy to write on a moments notice. I read the letter as I write my response. When the letter is complete. I write an "R" on the read letter. This serves to let me know I replied and it also shows me what ink and pen I used in the reply.

[Tracy Lee]

I created a neat system with my phone. I'm using box.com combined with a free app called genius scan.

On box.com I create a folder for each person I correspond with. In this folder I upload a screen cap of address from the forum or a snapshot of address from received letter. That's how I save and track addresses.

As far as what I send, I take a picture with genius scan and save as PDF to box.com. I can then refer back to what I've written and inks used. Each file is also automatically date stamped.

I'm pretty proud of my system. Let me know what you think.

-gerald

I am kinda liking this approach. I may look into the app, and I have thought I should also be looking more carefully at the capability of Evernote, which I also like using.

[gwgtaylor]

Yours is the system I would probably go with, if I have too simple of a system.

I keep unread letters with me. I write whenever I get a chance so having the letters with me makes it easy to write on a moments notice. I read the letter as I write my response. When the letter is complete. I write an "R" on the read letter. This serves to let me know I replied and it also shows me what ink and pen I used in the reply.

I do the same thing. I Cary tablets, envelopes and postage wherever I go and use two zippered pockets on my man purse as in and out boxes. My system of archiving letters still works because its based on my smartphone and cloud storage.

[gwgtaylor]

I am kinda liking this approach. I may look into the app, and I have thought I should also be looking more carefully at the capability of Evernote, which I also like using.

The genius scan app is brilliant and I even paid to unlock the pro features so it would upload directly to box.com. It's a great scanner too and uses the camera but corrects skew so it looks like it was scanned on a flatbed. Amazing!

[gwgtaylor]

It seems like you people don't reply to the letters you receive on the day you get them...is this why y'all need these systems, or are you all getting TONS of letters?

I often don't read them the day I receive them. They go into my in pile and I deal with them when I have time on a FIFO basis.