How to Write About What Went Wrong

You know you didn’t measure up. Your nonprofit didn’t meet its objectives, or you made a mistake on your customer’s order, or maybe someone even complained to your boss about you. No one’s perfect; it may have been an honest mistake, or there may have been unforeseen circumstances that transformed a simple task into something like trying to fly a kite on a windless day, or sitting on the ground in a perfect breeze, muttering and grumbling as you picked at the knotted mass of the kite’s tail. Whatever it was, something went wrong and you need to write to a stakeholder about it. What do you do?

How Far Can You Take Readers
in Just 1 or 2 Sentences?

You want to bring readers to a specific perspective on your cause, right? Let’s imagine that perspective as a gorgeous view from a mountain peak. You describe it perfectly, instantaneously transporting your readers to this place where the planet is laid out before them like a wrinkled blanket, and you say, “My work is to guide people up this mountain! Isn’t it amazing?”

You wait with bated breath, while they squint at the sun, scratch their mosquito bites, yawn, and finally reply, “Yeah, it’s nice. When’s lunch?” And your heart falls into your hiking boots. Your writing has skillfully depicted the most incredible heights achieved through all of your hard labor, but your readers understand nothing about the mountain beneath their feet.

3 Ways to Inspire People with Your Writing

Writing is powerful. Even a single sentence or phrase can instantly uplift or deflate our spirits. To propel our mission-based work forward, we need to use this power strategically. There are times to connect people with the sadness, fear, or anger that are indispensable for truly understanding a problem and being spurred into action to solve it. Generally, though, the best way to make the most positive difference is to leave people feeling inspired by the time they finish reading your writing.