Write to one object you stopped using, as if speaking to it.
Write what you'd say to a toy you don't play with anymore.
Everyone gets the same subject. What differs is the follow-up: one question for children, two for teens, three for adults. Only the children's wording is simplified.
Delete every line anyone could have written. What is left is yours.
Pick one. A single idea taken all the way beats ten touched lightly.
Cut every “well, but”. The sentence stands up straight without them.
Don't staple two ideas together with 'and'.
Instead of 'I was sad', write what your body did.
Write the visible, not the felt, and the reader stands there with you.