Now that I'm participating in the Snail Mail Exchange, and have a few correspondents, I've run into a small problem: How do I keep all this stuff straight? I'm terrible at organizing things. At the moment (I'm sorry, O my correspondents!) the letters are in a stack which I carry from bookcase to desk as necessary. Obviously, this won't work very much longer.

So what methods do you folks use to keep your snail mail organized, so you don't wind up writing basically the same letter to the same person several times over?

I basically warn everyone that my mind is a sieve and give them the option to either work on a query/response format or be prepared to hear the same things over and over from me. I can pontificate at length on various minutiae (... as you may have noticed.)

Generally I carry letters around with me until I've responded to them, and then I used to put them "aside," but that got too unwieldy so now I have a banker's box under my desk with individual file folders for each correspondent. we'll see how long that works for me.

Dear Djehuty,

On an economy budget; I have used a shoebox, an old envelope box--some sort of box; and then take the cardboard backing from the many legal pads used, cutting them into dividers, much like a card index file. I get those notebook tab stick ons, label them for the person in my correspondence list. I always put the last mail received in front. Oldest to the back.

If you do not want to make dividers, turn the envelope of the last letter upwards, so it creates a tab.

With a scanner, copier feature on my printer -- I can copy my written letter to the other person, so I can remember what I wrote. Not that different on saving documents on the computer. I fold it as to peek out of the letter I responded to. If I do not see one, means I need to respond to someone's letter.

Another consideration, is scanning both letters. One you got and one you wrote in response. It would be on the computer. There you can write your thoughts, do grammer and spelling checks before you write with your fountain pen/dip pen. That way you won't have to worry about anything but your writing styles. Putting these letters in the Document file folder; you can open these files at any time.

Main thing, find a system that works for you.

Respectfully,
Maria

I keep the letter around until I respond and then after I mail the response I discard the letter to me. I'm surprised others keep and file the mail. Too much like work!

Andy

"Do I repeat myself? Very well, I repeat myself, I am large. I contain multitudes!" Apologies to Walt Whitman for paraphrasing his line. Basically I write letters and I'm sure I've told the same story more than once. Oh well. It's not rocket surgery (!). I'm also a bit lazy so the idea of scanning the incoming letter, typing out an outgoing letter, "vetting it" and then copying it is beyond me. Besides I think I'd lose some spontineity and freshness if I did that. Also when I GET a letter from someone, they generally respond to what I said so I can get a sense of what I wrote. Occasionally I'll hear some repetition from my snails too. Oh well! As for organization, I gave up long ago trying to save all the letters sent to me. I keep some that are special in my Pen Scrapbook but others, it's out with the old, in with the new. I try to respond in the order in which they arrive but there are people who are speedy repliers so I reply to them first. Others are on a more liesurely schedule so rather than rush them by replying the same day, I write my response and then let it sit on my desk a while. I like to respond immediately, while I'm reading. That's why I get my best ideas.... such as they are.
BUT of course everyone has a different schedule so eventually things will sort out for you.

I have two large boxes stuffed with letters and keep track of who sends me a letter and when in a ledger book.Works well.I have 15 penpals that include 5 international pals.So maybe not as much as others but i do keep busy with 20-25 letters a month.
The book entry only takes a moment.

Jim

I look at a correspondence as a dialog so I always write with the other person's letter in front of me. It's served me well since I don't think I have duplicated letters too much.

I'm up to about 1100 letters written with a dozen or so active people so I keep the active letters in my writing box and a large box for all other letters.

If you look around there is another thread about storing letters that might give you some ideas as well.

Kurt

I'm just getting to the point that I need to find a way to organise my letters sent and received. I think I'm going to try having a folder for each person I write to. I will keep their letters to me, and photocopies of my letters to them, together in the folder, in chronological order. I'll see how that goes.

I read my letters as soon as I receive them. Then they go into a box and when I have time I respond to the oldest letter first. After I have responded the letter goes in a photo box. The box is organized by sender. I wish I could think of another way. I have thought about scanning them, but I like actually having each letter.

After reading this thread, I feel guilty. Guess I'd better go write a letter.

I use to keep track of what I wrote and saved letters, but it got too unwieldy.
So after intros I just stay current to avoid repetition.
After responding to letters, I shred them except those from rubberstamping penpals who have sent me some really creative pieces of epistolary art.

At the moment its all vey ramshackle.....
BUT in my head I have envisioned a system where I would have a book much like handlebar where I note the date I post my replies and then write that date on the top of the letter I had received just in case it escapes the collection so that I don't wonder whether I have replied to it or not. I also reply with the letter in front of me so this would be easy to do.

I do have in the back of one of my journals a list of my current snailers and have been noting dates alongside as I reply - but not consistently.

Why is it that everything works better in my head than in practise??

Thanks, all... it gives me food for thought. I'm torn between the all and nothing approaches. I think I'd feel odd copying my own letters. I'm not exactly writing deathless prose, or anything that will ever be in a Collected Letters volume. Likewise, I'd feel strange throwing away others' letters. If they've taken the time to write to me, can I just toss the letter in the trash? On the other hand, I don't particularly care if someone throws one of my letters away.

I'd better head out to the office supply store and see what new and exciting innovations in filing await.

Dear Djehuty;

Main reason why I copy my letters sent snail mail; if hand written--is because they aren't computer generated. In keeping the flow of the conversation, I can refer to the letter I wrote; as not to repeat myself.
Again, it is personal and there is 'no true way.'

Post-a-notes can be handy, as to jot down in an outline form the meat of the letter sent and tuck it into your received letter.

I have so many interests and when you have several individuals sharing the same name; I find keeping track of them via file method works for me.

On top of that--I deal with my parent's affairs --more administrative work for me.

Respectfully,
Maria

It had never occurred to me to save copies of my own letters until someone posted about it here. I'm glad I started doing it though, because I have had a very hard time remembering what I've said to my various correspondents. It's not just that I don't want to repeat myself. I also don't want to confuse them by referring to something that I thought I told them about, but didn't. Plus, sometimes I'll run out of time and have to end the letter, so I might leave something for next time that they've asked me about.

As for throwing away letters, I suppose it's within the realm of possibility that I will eventually have such a huge stack of letters that I'll have to get rid of some so as to avoid collapsing the floor under their weight. I don't want to throw them away though, because they're fun and entertaining. Years from now I might want to re-read some of them again. I recently found some very old letters from my primary school days. A few of them were from a pen pal in Egypt that I had completely forgotten! Sometimes you lose touch with people, and it's nice to have a reminder like that.

I have one of those cute craft totes with the dozen or more pockets. There's room for pens, magazines, stationery, and stamps and all sorts of drop ins, clips, or whatever else I can think of.

I've had similar problems in the past, wondering whether I responded or not, but I started either making a check-mark on the correspondent's envelope or marking the letter off on a separate pad.

I keep letters either with me or on my desk until I've responded to them, and then they go in a box (they all go in the same box).

However, I don't know that this works especially well, since once or twice I've wanted to go back and look up what someone said and realized that it would be a lot of work to find the right letter somewhere in that box at this point... so, probably I'll do something different eventually, but I'm not sure exactly what. :-)

Hi, Djehuty,

Have a log book of my correspondence and number all letters sent and received. Do a first draft in a journal, put the letter number on it, and then do a final draft. All letters received are filled in numerical order in a 3-ring binder.

Whatever system you use, I'm sure your letters will be as well-received as your emails are here on the Fountain Pen Network. Enjoy!

I picked up a little organizer-folder thing at Staples today. I may have outsmarted myself; it only has seven folders. Maybe I'll organize by week in this, and pick up a larger file box for longer-term storage.

I've decided to try keeping a log-book recording a brief synopsis of what I've said in a letter, so that I hopefully won't repeat myself too badly. Maybe getting into the habit of writing things in a little book will also lead me into journaling, which I never seem to keep up for more than three days at a time.

And Randal, thank you, that's most kind.

Wow, it is fascinating to read about all these different methods!

Here's mine.

Letters received go into a pile. Unless it's someone I'm close to or expecting big news from, I don't read them until I am about to sit down and respond. I read and respond in order received.

I keep track of letters written (not received) in a blank journal which also serves as my ink journal. I only list the date, who I wrote to and on what stationery. Sometimes, if I used special stamps, I'll note those. If it's a thank-you, I note the gift as well. I make sure to write that entry in whatever ink color I used for the letter (or one of the ink colors I used for that letter, if many) in my letter journal. I do it right after I address the envelope or I will forget.

Then the letters I've received and responded to go into a decorative box or large-ish plastic box. You can stuff a lot of letters into boxes! I'm only on my second box in three years, so that's not so bad.

I used to sort letters by recipient, and had them stored in chronological order. They were stored in cardboard boxes under my bed, and I did go back and reread them occasionally. (I went through winnowing processes and occasionally threw away some that weren't very meaningful.) Then my house got flooded and all the letters got ruined, so my current three-year collection is all I've got. Otherwise, I would be looking at a fairly large collection of letters to store.

I have to keep mine simple. They are on my desk annoying me until I respond, then I write the date on the outside of the envelope and store them.

I have one of those college theme books in which I draft letters, with a chronological list starting at the back. The letters in there are close to but not exactly the same as what gets written out more neatly and sent (lots of strikeouts and bad sentence construction in the book).
Letters received go into space in a desk drawer, oldest ones at the front. When it gets too full, i.e., can't jam another letter in, the ones at the back are thrown out.

When I receive a letter I stamp it with a date stamp and put it in a box on my desk. I answer them in the order I receive them. I read letters when I get them and then re-read them when I sit down to answer them. I scan letters that I write into a OneNote file before mailing them - I have a file for each person I write to. I keep letters I receive in a file cabinet. I could scan them, too - but I like keeping the original. I guess the day will come when I'll run out of space and have to toss some of them out. But I don't want to think about it.

Judybug