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The letter sounds like some fledgling drama student writing a short story, hoping it is turned into a movie (for the umpty third time)

Given how they always have something ‘juicy’ to headline with, these “Dear Abby” type columns must either attract a sufficiently huge number of submissions in order for the columnist to high-grade them each time, or else they just make stuff up.

Given how well crafted some of the longer submissions are, I strongly suspect the “make stuff up” option, which is fitting- if we’re being honest, these columns are ultimately entertainment for most.

It’s perfect, really- even if you were to call out a columnist for having submissions in their own writing style, they could just say they rewrite them for clarity and/or to help mask the submitter’s writing style (for privacy).

Well, made-up or not, the stories usually depict actual events that have happened to countless people, throughout human history.

They’re useful insofar as the advice is sound and wise.