Looking for letter writing inspiration, or just interested in seeing what others are writing about? Here’s a small sample list of penpal, postcard and letter writing blogs on the internet:

• Snail Mail Pals and Swaps
• S.mail ~ A Letter Writing Blog
• GirlZootZilla
• Goodnight Little Spoon
• Just Letter Rip
• The Missive Maven
• 365 Letters
• S-FIMail (one view of mail art)
• A Postcard a Day
• The Pen Archives
• A Year of Letters
• Letters & Journals

An article about a penpal exchange and disruption since the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Dani has been writing letters for the past five years, and it was something she really enjoyed. But in January, after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Dani’s pen pal dream became a nightmare. Her pen pal is Jeadlyne Petit-Homme, a 13-year old girl from Haiti, and since the earthquake, officials have so far been unable to find the girl or her family.

Read: No response to local girl’s messages to Haitian pen pal after earthquake

Going Postal?

Sending a traditional penpal letter by international mail is a wonderful experience as much for you as your recipient. For reference, here’s a small list of worldwide postal offices on Wikipedia.

• An Post (Ireland)
• Australia Post (Australia)
• Bulgarian Posts (Bulgaria)
• Canada Post (Canada)
• China Post, 中国邮政 (People’s Republic of China)
• Chunghwa Post, 中華郵政 (Republic of China)
• Correos (Spain)
• Correos de Costa Rica SA (Costa Rica)
• Correios (Brazil)
• CTT (Portugal)
• Deutsche Post (Germany)
• De Post, La Poste, Die Post or The Post (Belgium)
• Hongkong Post (Hong Kong)
• Indian Postal Service (India)
• Indonesian Post – Pos Indonesia (Indonesia)
• I.R.I Post (Iran)
• Íslandspóstur (Iceland)
• Israel Post, דואר ישראל (Israel) (Formerly Israeli Postal Authority, רשות הדואר)
• Japan Post (Japan)
• Jersey Post, (Jersey)
• La Poste (France)
• Magyar Posta (Hungary)
• New Zealand Post (New Zealand)
• PhilPost-Philippine Postal Corporation (Philippines)
• Poczta Polska (Poland)
• Post Danmark (Denmark)
• Poste Italiane (Italy)
• Posten (Norway)
• Posten (Sweden)
• Pošta Srbije (Serbia)
• Poşta Română (Romania)
• Postverk Føroya (Faroe Islands)
• PTT (Turkey)
• Royal Mail (United Kingdom)
• Russian Post (Russian: Почта России) (Russian Federation)
• Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos (Spain)
• Suomen Posti (Finland)
• Swiss Post (Switzerland)
• TPG Post, formerly PTT (The Netherlands)
• United States Postal Service (USA)
• Česká pošta (Czech Republic)

Comment if you have additions that I may have missed.

You don’t have to be an English major to write successful letters to your pen pal.

Write from your heart and use your creativity. Here are a few suggestions for writing snail mail:

• Begin each message with a pleasant greeting. Hand-write your letter as neatly as you can and always use your own words.
• Respond first to the news and information that your pen pal shared in his or her last message. But don’t just answer your pals questions, ask a few of your own so you can keep the letters flowing between you.
• If you have just started corresponding, tell your pen pal a little bit about yourself and why you think you would be a great pen pal.
• Share information about the things that are going on in your life at the moment.
• Try to keep your letter short enough that it can be read in one sitting.
• Pace the revelation of personal information. Remember that telling too much about your life too soon could scare away a new penfriend.
• Avoid controversial topics – at least in the beginning of your relationship.
• End each letter with a note with encouragement for your pen pal to reply. (“I look forward to hearing from you soon” or something similar would be appropriate.)

Finally, use nice or unique writing paper and envelope. Address it neatly, legible and correctly by hand. Don’t print it off the computer or type. It should look personal. Clearly put your return address on the envelope. Put the stamp on straight and send it airmail.