A way to make writing fun!

Hey y'all! Yuck, this weather has been bringing me down all week... I sure hope it gets warmer and the rain stops! In the meantime, I'm enjoying some country music while working on different things for my classroom :-) One thing I would like to try to incorporate next year is a writing piece - in this I would like to have my classes write (penpals) with another class that is in a different part of NC, or a different part of the country. I have found that students need to work on their writing, and what a fun way it would be if they could write to someone outside their school district, or even out of their state. It would be far better than writing essays upon essays that have no true purpose other than showing your teacher your writing skills. With pen-pals, the students have a purpose - they have a letter they need to answer to, they have a person who is interested in what they are writing, it is a conversation. Of course, there would be guidelines and all - that has yet to be developed, once I find a class to write to. If you want to do this, feel free to let me know! Anyone have any suggestions for improving writing skills that is fun? Ms. Bergin