Hello Kingash . Welcome to WDC! I'm Charlie. Thanks for sharing your writing with us. I hope this review finds you well. Let me know if you need help finding your way around the site!


Title/General Thoughts/Subject Matter: I think from the darkest places in our life can come the most inspired writing, so I think it's good that you're trying to work through an abusive past by writing. What better way to release some of that negativity than a letter to the abusive one? I think this is a good title and the description lets us know where this type of piece fits into your writing portfolio.


What Worked: There were some really strong lines here that had an emotional impact on me as a reader. I know what it's like to have someone bring you down so far that you struggle to this extent to bring yourself out of it, and I know all too well the feelings of regret that you have as a victim after realizing that you fell into such a stupid trap. My favorite lines were the first two:

You always insult my intelligence and pretend that I need you to survive. You attempt to dominate me, then hit me once I don't comply.

There was a certain poetic quality about them that caught my attention and proved to be a good hook for the rest of the piece.

Technical Issues/Suggestions: I think this should definitely be reformatted as a poem. It has some poetic language, especially in those first couple lines, and it's too short to really prove strong as a letter. I mean, if I wrote a letter to abusers, it would be super long and much more ranty. As a poem though, this could work really well. Say from the start:

To the abusive one:

Dear John,

You insult my intelligence,
pretend I need you to survive,
attempt to dominate me,
hit me when I don't comply.

Maybe it's my affinity for poetry, but I think that a poem would back a much stronger emotional punch for this particular piece. The only thing is that you'd need to reword it a little bit, especially at the end. I reworded the beginning above, just to give it more poetic language. You don't want to straight up say, "I ignored your blows and rage by abusing alcohol and cocaine for so long" but you can say it without directly saying it. Something like, "Cocaine and alcohol numbed your rage.."

Of course, it's your piece so you know what's best for it. These are just suggestions.


Final Thoughts: Overall, I think it's good that you're writing about this topic. I know how cathartic it can be. For this particular piece, I think a poem would work much better. Let me know what you decide to do with it. Thanks again for sharing.


Best wishes,




My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .