The Black Diamond Review

Diana's Desk  ·  Recurring Column

A Note On Patience

A household I read for last spring asked me, in the third month, whether anything was working. I understood the question. The first round of letters had returned mixed answers. One bureau had moved. Two had not.

I told her what I tell everyone in month three: the second round of correspondence is when the practice begins to look like practice. The first letter is a question. The second letter is the answer to their answer. The third is documentation. The fourth is escalation. Patience is the technique.

She is now in month nine. Two collections removed. One paid account corrected. Score up forty seven points. Practice, not magic. We read the file, we wrote the letters, we waited the windows, and then we wrote again.