Originally Posted by JoshA

The 2 I choose I basically picked, like Smiley & sunray's_wrench, cause I thought they would need a friend they most. Unfortunately it didn't work out. Four picked me and its worked out great so far. My fifth one came about when a lady on facebook asked if I would be willing to write to her brother, and I gave her my address and some details about me so she could ask him if he wanted to, and he did.

What do you mean by they picked you???

I picked the two guys who I thought needed the mail the most and their stories were both really sad. I Did the same thing with choosing my cats.. I picked the two sorriest ones from the animal shelter.. lol Those were two of the best decisions I ever made!

I picked people that sounded confident and intelligent and that were doing things to improve themselves while they were in there such as correspondence courses or learning music, things like that. I also picked people in the "not getting mail" section. So far our letters have been upbeat and fun like two friends bantering back and forth.

I've noticed that most people on here say that they've found the perfect pen pal or that they picked well. I think that shows that writing to inmates is a positive thing. There are very few stories that I've read where it's gone wrong and for the most part it's people that probably shouldn't be writing in the first place. There is the occasional jerk that is out there but you find them in real life as well. It's nice to read so many good experiences here.

Hahaha oh man...I picked mine by astrological sign! Well that's how I narrowed it down anyway. Ultimately I picked them because they seemed mature and interesting.

It's weird because I set out looking to write someone who was in for a non-violent crime. I have 2 PPs right now, and they're both in for violent crimes. One explained his situation in his post, the other did not, but did explain it in his very first letter. I'm a bit of a jester, so those two specifically made me laugh before I even clicked to view their entire profile. I read through their profile before looking at the crimes, and even after seeing that, I couldn't help but write. I like to keep a funny undertone to things even when I'm being serious so knowing that someone could keep up with that and throw the jokes right back was a must.

I saw him on TV and thought we would get along!

i narrowed it down by age. figured i'd get along better with someone in my age range.

after that? i avoided these keywords: "hey ladies," "innocent/wrongfully convicted," "holla back," and "lonely."

Were there any left???

Originally Posted by MoxieBravo

i narrowed it down by age. figured i'd get along better with someone in my age range.

after that? i avoided these keywords: "hey ladies," "innocent/wrongfully convicted," "holla back," and "lonely."

It takes me AGES to search for people I really want to write to and I'm really picky. Mainly because I would feel terrible if I wrote to someone then realised I didn't get on with them and have to stop. Firstly I narrow my search down by looking for people who are around my age, just because like Moxie said, I figure they're more likely to be on my level. I avoid 'dating profiles' like the plague because I have a boyfriend and I'm not interested in anything more than friendship with my PPs. I just try and look for people who I think I'd get on with, or who I might choose as friends on the outside. I go for people who seem genuine, honest and friendly.

Originally Posted by februarymoon

Were there any left???

one!