Postcrossing Blog

The writing prompts are an ongoing experiment that invites postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

Another month will soon start and it’s time for a new suggestion for the messages on your postcards! But first, let us ask: did last month’s writing prompt help you unlock some creativity and write more on your postcards? And did you discover any new writers that you’re looking forward to read? Let us know in the comments below!

The writing prompt for March was suggested by nyassa on the forum:

This is such a simple prompt, but so interesting! I’m writing this post from our office, and we use our big window here as a whiteboard, to jot down ideas and things we’re working on… so it’s a bit busy! Through it, I can see the blue sky, the palm trees swaying in the wind across our quiet street, our elderly neighbours walking their elderly dogs… aaaand the mail carrier that has just arrived on their scooter! Time to go pick the mail! 😀

We hope you enjoy this monthly prompt — feel free to take a step further, add extra details, or even draw it on your postcard!

The writing prompts are an ongoing experiment that invites postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

We’re posting February’s writing prompt a couple of days ahead of schedule because other good things are coming… 😉  Stay tuned!

This month’s writing prompt was suggested by Norway_girl on the forum. Here it goes:

If possible, write about someone whose work you know and enjoy, so that others can discover it too! It could be a contemporary or classical author, or perhaps even a favourite poet, children’s book or cookbook’s author. Make it interesting and help others discover a bit of your country’s literary heritage.

In the past few years, as friends got married and started having babies, we’ve been slowly rediscovering Portuguese children’s books and fell in love with a publisher called “Planeta Tangerina” (Tangerine planet). Their books are filled with beautifully illustrated and irreverent stories, making it hard to pick just one… A particular author of theirs that we enjoy is Isabel Minhós Martins, whose many books are often translated into other languages. “Don’t cross the line!” is our favourite — a quirky story on dictatorship, revolutions and the power of people, taking place in felt-tip illustrations on the left and right sides of each two-page spread.

What about your country? Which authors have you been reading or having fun discovering? Which ones do you think the recipient of your postcard would like to hear about? Don’t be afraid to skip the classics and recommend some little-known authors on your postcards — if you like their works, it’s likely that some other postcrossers will too!

PS – Got some cool ideas for more prompts? Feel free to share them on this forum thread!

Happy New Year! May it be a brilliant one!

Last month we invited everyone to write about a famous food from your region in the postcards you were sending out. So… what new delicacies did you learn about? 😋 Are you going to give them a try?

(For those that are new to them, the writing prompts are an ongoing experiment that invites postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcard’s messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!)

This month’s writing prompt was suggested by Jetske. Here it goes:

Sounds simple enough, right? But wouldn’t it be interesting to know how your typical day differs from someone else’s across the world?

For instance, my commute is probably the shortest out there, as I just work from our home office on my laptop all day (not in pijamas though!). A typical day around here is filled with emails, posts, research and coffee… as well as occasional visits from the neighbourhood’s cats! 🐈

What about you? What does your typical day look like? Are you strict about schedules or tend to go with the flow? Do you have a long commute? And do you interact with a lot of other people (or cats)?

You can choose to give the recipient of your postcard a broad overview of your days, or focus on something specific if you feel that would be more relevant. Whichever approach you choose, I’m sure it’ll be interesting to read about.

Have a good month, filled with lovely postcards!

Another month starts and it’s time for a new suggestion for the messages on your postcards! But first, let us ask: did last month’s writing prompt help you unlock some creativity and write a bit more on your postcards? We really hope so!

(For those that are new to them, the writing prompts are an ongoing experiment that invites postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcard’s messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!)

December’s writing prompt was suggested by Heepy on the forum. Here it goes:

This should be an easy one, right? Around here in the south of Portugal, the “holy trinity of crops” consists of almonds, carob and figs. Most of the local sweets will include one or more of these, giving them a very characteristic taste and texture. After extensive research, we can confirm it’s absolutely delicious! I could definitely write about it at length on my postcards… 😋

What about you, what is typical from your region? We invite you to pick a favourite local dish or sweet and tell your recipients all about it on your December postcards — you might even inspire someone across the world to try it out someday!

PS – Got some cool ideas for more prompts? Feel free to share them on this forum thread!

Do you also feel like the best postcards we receive are often the ones that are completely filled with thoughts? When the text is so long and interesting that words start spilling into the address side of the postcard, grabbing our attention for a moment longer… Those tend to be the ones that truly connect us to another place and another person, beyond the standard “Hello, my name is…”

That said, we know coming up with interesting subjects for writing on your postcards can be hard. Sometimes we’re not particularly inspired, or we’re tired at the end of the day or we might feel like there’s just not that much to say. If you struggle with what to write on your postcards, we’re starting an experiment today that might help — we’re calling them the “monthly writing prompts”.

Here’s how it goes: in the beginning of the month we’ll publish a post suggesting a topic, and if you’d like, you can use this topic as a starting point for the messages on the postcards you send that month. Please note that the suggested theme is 100% optional and meant as a suggestion only. If you already know what you want to write about or the recipient gives you some tips of what they’d like to hear from you, that’s wonderful… but just in case you need ideas, we’re here to help!

Ok, so here’s the topic for the inaugural month of these prompts, as suggested by ColourfulCourtney on the forum:

This is one of my favourite topics to write on postcards, actually! Things that make you smile have a big chance of bringing a smile to someone else’s face, so it’s nice to share them. Incidentally, this theme reminds me of Maria singing about her favourite things on The Sound of Music, which reminds me of musicals… which is one of the things that puts a smile on my face! 😊  I could definitely write about all my favourite musicals, and all the songs I know by heart…

You get the idea, right? Just pick something that makes you smile and share it with your recipient. Be specific and elaborate on it as much as you’d like. Let’s fill November’s postcards with stories and meaningful messages and spread some smiles all around. Have a great month, everyone!

PS – Have ideas for more prompts? Feel free to share them on this forum thread! Remember that the forum requires a separate login from that of the Postcrossing website, so if you have not created an account there, you will need to do so in order to use it.