Purpose of the exercise: Keep working on the verbs of the past and the future, and the various storytelling techniques to write a personal letter.
Imagine that you have a child who is facing a difficult situation, similar to something you have experienced. You want to give him advice, and you decide to write him a letter. [It’s up to you to decide how old you are in this scenario, and what your child’s age and gender are.]
(1) Invent the situation.
(2) Make a draft of your various points:
What did you do in a similar situation? Was it done right or not? Have there been any negative or positive consequences?
–How does your child’s situation resemble and/or deviate from yours? How can this affect the advice you offer?
–Project your child’s future according to the decisions he/she is making now. Consider using the structure if present, future.
(3) Pay attention to the structure of a letter. How are you going to start it? Will your child want to hear from you? Imagine the relationship you have with her or him.
(4) Compose and polish the letter, incorporating the various elements named above.