Can it be? Has my 5th French month (try to say that 10 times fast) truly descended upon me that fast? This is my penultimate Word post from abroad. For now.I was trying to think of some writerly thing to tie into living abroad when it hit me: postcards.
Just as landlines are pre-cell phones and snail mail is pre-email, I wonder if postcards could be considered pre-Twitter or Facebook status updates. Space is limited, so only the essential and/or spur of the moment thoughts are written: "Bonjour! I'm sitting here writing this to you in a cafe in the main plaza with a group of friends. The picture on the front is of the same plaza where I am now. I'm learning a lot of French, meeting a lot of people and having a lot of fun. I'll be back before you know it! Bisous!"
Think about it. That typical postcard message is a little bit of a longer response to Twitter's "What's happening?" prompt or Facebook's "What's on your mind?
Every true postcard should have:
1. a greeting or closing of some sort in the native language of the foreign country.
2. an explanation of the picture on the front.
3. a specific comment about your present activity, state or location.
4. a general comment about your trip.
Simple tips from a postcard-loving traveler.
Postcards? That was my idea! Je les adore. Will you send me one? En francais, s'il te plait?
ReplyDeleteHow do you see postcards aiding the writer in a broader context? I use them as a supplement to journaling because, like you mention, there's an immediacy to them, and what one says on a postcard seems to gain significance simply by being posted and sent around the world. I like to send them to my mother because I know she will let me have them back when I return home and wish to write a fuller account of my travels from my haphazard notes.
Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Olen Butler wrote a book by piecing together old post cards from the turn of the century.
ReplyDeleteCool! I attended a session with Butler at Nimrod last fall, but I've read very little of his. This would be a good place to pick up with him again. Remember the title, Kent?
ReplyDeleteHad a Good Time: Stories from American Postcards (2004)
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