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Post by kansaskyle on Oct 1, 2015 19:42:13 GMT
I started a letter registry (i.e., a listing of all incoming and outgoing correspondence) on March 22, 2015. I got the idea on a FPN thread. I track: - Date sent/received
- Person to/from
- High points of the correspondence
- Pen and ink used for outbound items - I've had people ask me, what ink did you use, so I started tracking it
To date, I've sent 91 cards, postcards, notes, or letters, and received 16 back, which is a 15% return rate. A lot of these are people I know from church where we publish a monthly birthday list. I send a little hand-written "Happy Birthday" card along with a scripture and note to people I know closely. Most at least thank me, and several even mention how much it meant to get a card from me. It kind of bums me out that so few people take the time to write back. How is your return rate on stuff written to non-penpals?
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Post by writingrav on Oct 1, 2015 20:26:05 GMT
Most people email a response to a written communication.
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Post by sharmon202 on Oct 1, 2015 22:30:22 GMT
I write to several old friends twice a year or so. I just tell them that I know people generally do not like to write letters and do not feel obligated to write back if they do not want to. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. Sometimes they email, sometimes not. Life is busy for everyone and I am not getting upset if I do not hear from them back. When I do hear from them, Christmas cards, a call or text or whatever, they always tell me how much they loved getting the letter. That's enough for me. I do it because I enjoy it and now they will. Stats on it would be interesting I guess but would not change what I do. To answer your question, I would say it is very low. Maybe you should count the verbal/email responses or any feedback as a return.
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Post by Mia on Oct 1, 2015 23:16:38 GMT
I'll have a look at my diaries (page a day, noting incoming and outgoing post but not bank statements and junk.. etc)... Should have plenty of stats.
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Post by chojo on Oct 2, 2015 15:16:57 GMT
My only non pen pals are my family. The only time I write anything to them is a card at birthdays or christmas and I would say the reply rate is fairly good around 70% but that's only if their partners buy the cards if it was left to my brothers I'd never receive a reply!
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Post by MrAndersen on Oct 4, 2015 4:14:23 GMT
I don't keep track as such, but in my experience very few people send written responses to cards. More often that not they'll just mention it the next time I talk to them, or in e-mail if we're in the habit of exchanging those. With letters, it seems to me that some people are just natural letter-writers, while others are at a complete loss for how and what to write. My non-pen pal letter partners are all family, and of those there are a good handful I know I simply cannot elicit a handwritten response from. They'll e-mail or phone me instead.
I've talked to several people who say they would like to write letters, but feel like they wouldn't know how. It's probably a culture-of-the-age thing to a large extent, I suspect some can be motivated just by sending them letters from time to time, just to show them that letters still exists, and that they are nice to receive.
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Post by Mia on Oct 5, 2015 18:55:20 GMT
Out of InCoWriMo 2014, I wrote/replied to at least 20 people. Only 5 are continuing correspondents. A couple didn't reply to my surprises. I haven't looked deeply but those non-successful correspondence mostly petered out after 2-6 replies.
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Post by Mia on Oct 5, 2015 19:07:21 GMT
2015 was more successful - maybe 50% continuing correspondence
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Post by sharmon202 on Oct 31, 2015 14:51:52 GMT
Guess I have not kept track much. I do try to keep up with those that try to maintain.
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Post by skye on Oct 31, 2015 15:06:52 GMT
I have my numbers somewhere, but I must say that I am okay with the atrition rate only because if everyone kept responding I would never write to any new people every february.
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Post by DJW1066 on Nov 1, 2015 20:27:16 GMT
I send a weekly letter to my father, a monthly letter to each of my 4 fabulous grandchildren, and a quarterly letter to a niece. Whenever we're at someone's home for suppler or entertainment, I always write a thank you note (nothing very formal). Everyone raves about how much they enjoy getting their letters, but I very, very, very seldom get anything back. But that's OK because I moderate my expectations accordingly.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2015 5:20:06 GMT
Everyone raves about how much they enjoy getting their letters... Christmas is coming Perhaps this year give EVERYBODY some nice paper, envelopes, pens etc to entice them into this wonderful 'hobby' of ours I'm sure a lot more folk, not just your relatives, would write letters once they realised just how relaxing and enjoyable the whole process is
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Post by Mia on Nov 2, 2015 17:08:49 GMT
My mother receives a "round robin" letter year-summary from a friend who used to live a few doors away from us, every Christmas.
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Post by sharmon202 on Nov 3, 2015 22:31:01 GMT
Everyone raves about how much they enjoy getting their letters... Christmas is coming Perhaps this year give EVERYBODY some nice paper, envelopes, pens etc to entice them into this wonderful 'hobby' of ours I'm sure a lot more folk, not just your relatives, would write letters once they realised just how relaxing and enjoyable the whole process is People are so busy, this might not be relaxing to all. I occasionally get a letter from a non-writer and just appreciate their effort.
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