Expert: Cathy Clamp - 1/11/2008

Question
I have to write a story for school and i was wondering if you had any tips on writing "letter" stories....
you probably don't know what i mean so i will try to explain,
well my story is about a girl and her dad gets drafted to the war and he writes letters to his family...
well i dont know exactly how to do that and i was wondering if you  could help me!!!
thanks in advance!!!☺

Answer
Hi, Sophia!

This is a pretty classic style of story, and it's not very hard. Here are the things you need to start:

1.  You need to think of your plot. What happens to the dad? Think in the long term, over the course of weeks or months. Do you want him to be actually "drafted," meaning he's forced into the military by federal law (which doesn't currently exist,) or have him "enlist," by volunteering? Or, perhaps he's been a National Guard soldier for a few years and gets called up for active duty. Those are very different things, from the point of view of your story. See, basic training is about eight weeks and specialist training can last for up to a year after---before the person would ever see combat. But for a short story, you don't want a huge amount of time to occur over the course of the plot because you lose that closeness between the character and the reader. The same with someone who enlists. They're just starting out, like moving from middle school to high school. It's a whole new experience and most of the time is taken up learning things. That's okay . . . but it doesn't make for a very exciting story unless something really strange happens at boot camp. If, however, he's already been through all that via the National Guard or being recently retired and getting "called up" he's got the background and can jump right into the action, which makes for a more exciting read.

2.  Think about your "backstory." The backstory is the normal life you've interrupted with the plot. What happened before the story opens? Especially in letters from a father, he's going to want to know how things are going back home. Did she pass her big math test? How's the science project going? Did she pass her Red Cross training at the pool? Is she helping Mom out with her little brother? Stuff like that. See, you've got two main characters in this story---the girl and her dad. You're going to have to think from EACH of their points of view as they're writing letters, or "hearing" the girl answer the questions out loud as she reads the letters.

3.  Think about a GOAL. How does the story end? Is the father killed, or wounded? Does the last letter arrive the same day they get a call from him from the airport that he's home because the war is over? A happy ending is always nice, but life's not always like that and a sad or scary ending can be really strong and moving.

4.  Once you have the beginning (how he gets to the war) and the end (how he gets OUT of the war) then you need a chart. Decide how many letters you want to write. You'll do best if they're fairly short and span a few days to a week apart. Each letter needs to reveal a little more about what's happening to him. For example, let's say the second letter is after he's stationed in Baghdad and is jotting a few lines after being on patrol.

Sophia,  It was great to get your last letter. We don't get much of a chance to watch television here, so thanks for telling me about the new water restrictions. Tell mom not to worry about the lawn, but if we can keep that little apple tree in the back yard alive, that would be nice. Just got back from patrol and we have to go out again on a raid later, so I just have a few minutes. Hey, did you know they're bringing dogs to the bases now? Some sort of mental therapy for the guys who are wounded. The one that came yesterday looked just like Buck. He even turned his head when I called the name! Sweetie, you can't imagine how much I miss you, Sam and your mom. But I'll be home soon, so please don't worry so much about me. Mom says your teacher called her that you were crying in class again.

Etc., etc. So, all of a sudden you know a bunch about what's happening to the girl and you know her dad must be scared for her and is going to have a hard time concentrating when he goes out on the raid later. This really grabs the reader and they want to see the next installment to find out how he did. You can put in a few details about things he does there, from cleaning his gun to sitting around being bored for days (which happens a LOT.) or having him reveal that the soldier sitting next to him was killed and he's thankful he's alive.

If you have cable, see if you get the CurrentTV network (CRNT on most systems.) These are viewer generated pods, and a lot of times, they have podcasts from the troops over there, showing what life on a base is like. Or, check their website to see if you can download one. There was a whole series of them on Veteran's Day, so they might still be up. They were really interesting and you might get some ideas.

Hope that helps a little, and let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck with your assignment! :)

Cathy