Call for Contributors: The Chain Letter Short Story Project #4

A typewriter next to some mini envelopes and a notebook with a pen and paperclip on top with the heading "The Paper Trail Diary's The Chain Letter Short Story Project."

Well, hi! It’s been a while. I’ve been itching to do another creative project lately and seeing as the pandemic kind of put the kibosh on the fun of the Notebook & Pen Swap, I figured, let’s do another Chain Letter Short Story Project!

If you like creative writing and snail mail, and want to be a part of something that makes its way around the world, then keep reading…

The Chain Letter Short Story Project is quite literally a short story that is written as a chain letter by folks all over the world. I start and finish the story, and then compile everything into a zine. You can check out the first story, second story, and third story now!

Want to be a part of #4? I’m looking for 5-10 people from around the world to join. Please note that this really could take at least a year to make its way around the globe, so this is a long term project and you should keep that in mind when signing up in terms of your address and level of commitment (if you move, please let me know).

As a contributor, you must be willing to:

  1. Write a page of the story, keep it to either handwriting or typing about a sheet of paper in English. It must be in relation to what came before it. There may be other instructions included with the mail. I re-type them for the zine, but it’s really neat to see all the pages together.
  2. Include any web links you’d like on your page in the zine. (Blog, Instagram, etc)
  3. Have it in your possession for no more than 2 weeks.
  4. Email me when you get it and when you’re done with it to get the address of the next participant. And then mail it to them. You cover your own shipping cost.
  5. If you’re posting about it online, please tag @papertraildiary and #CLSSP4. We want to see its’ progress!

Sidenotes:

  1. I reserve the right to pick contributors out of everyone submitted.
  2. Participants from the last round are disqualified, to be fair.
  3. The letter will be sent as the straightest line of destination-to-destination that I can see.
  4. You’ll receive copies of the zine once it’s finished!

If you are interested, please fill out this form by February 27. You don’t need to be a professional writer to take part in this!