A New Way to Write Letters: Back-and-Forth-Book

With the advent of email, letter writing has lost some of its popularity, but I personally like to write-and receive-handwritten letters. I have to admit that I've fallen into the email trap, and that's something I'm planning to change. I like opening my mailbox and finding something there, wondering what the news is as I open the envelope, and the pleasure of reading it. I also really like seeing the handwriting of the person who wrote the letter; it's so familiar and comfortable.

I'm going to start writing letters again, but I'm going to do at least some of them in a new way, by keeping what I call a back-and-forth-book. I had one of these years ago with a friend of mine who is now deceased, and it is one of my most prized possessions.

What is a back-and-forth-book?

A back-and-forth-book is a lot like letter writing, with a couple of differences. It could be called a letter writing book, or a book of letters. It's a great way to communicate, like writing a letter, but it's also a way to start a new tradition, preserve memories, and make new ones.

The concept is really simple. To make a back-and-forth-book, you write in a blank book-of any kind-and send that instead of a letter. Each person keeps the book until he or she has something to write, and then the book is sent to the next person who keeps it until she writes in it and sends it on. Back and forth the book goes.

One of the things that makes the book interesting is that the previous entries are there, so you can see what the other person has written long after the fact, you can follow the course of a 'conversation,' or track the progress of a friendship.

Unlike traditional letters, in which you have only one side of the conversation, with this book, you can see questions or ideas and responses or reactions. You have things in a different context than in a regular letter.

In the back-and-forth-book I had with my friend, we did not have any real rules for the book, but we both just kind of agreed that the things we would write in it weren't the everyday things of life, such as today I did this, and tomorrow I'm going here.

Instead, we chose to share deeper things in our book: hopes, dreams, fears. We posed philosophical questions.

We started each entry with a favorite motivational or inspirational quote. My friend started that. She had our book on September 11, 2001, so I have her thoughts about that terrible day. It also contains her thoughts and feelings about her diagnosis of cancer, and mine as well.

You can do your book, of course, any way you want to, and use it however you want; there aren't any rules. You can personalize it or decorate it to make it even more yours. On the inside front cover (or on any page-it's your book), for instance, you can put photos, ticket stubs, memorabilia, or anything else that means something to you. It can be a combination scrapbook and letters.

If you enjoy receiving letters in your mailbox, getting this much-thicker-than-a-letter package is really a treat. And having it years later is a precious gift.