"Mommy, Will You Tell Me a Story?"

Some other technical stuff:

1. Work out a plot before you start writing the story. Plot is usually built around a conflict involving the main character. You have to move from one crisis to the next.
2. Only have one character. Never tell the story of two or more people. When you do that, it’s a report, not a story. Your reader can only assimilate one lead character when a story is in a letter format. Also, never throw in a bunch of names that are hard to pronounce. When you bring in a second name, you force the reader to move away from the main character. That’s deadly in a letter story.
3. Make your setting real. Provide enough detail to give the reader a quick mental snapshot of the setting.
4. Conflict is the heart of a story. And the conflict has to increase in order to build dramatic tension.
5. Keep it tight. Keep your descriptions sparse. Don’t stray from the conflict you’re building.

There are a lot of other techniques involved in telling a good story, but my purpose right now is simply to encourage you to stop fighting human nature and start telling stories. Instead of quoting figures about starvation, tell the story of one mother who is watching her child starve. Instead of explaining in great medical detail the principle causes of lung cancer, tell about one single person who died from it.