-
Include formalities: the date, your return address and
a daytime phone number, and the name and address of
the person you are writing to.
-
Remember: It is critical that you send your own
letter. Newspaper editors are highly suspicious of
identical letters.
-
Get your reader’s attention early—don’t back into your
subject.
-
Limit your letter to one or two succinct key messages.
Say what you have to say as clearly, completely and
concisely as possible.
-
Limit your letter to between 200 and 250 words (about
half of a typewritten page. Most newspapers have a
strict word limit on letters from readers.
-
Write from the heart. There is no need to create
literature. What’s important is communicating that
these issues are important to you personally –– and
why. Include personal anecdotes or observations from
your experience that are consistent with the goals and
messages of the advocacy effort.
-
Include a “call to action” — what you want newspaper
readers to do.
-
Use e-mail delivery whenever possible, especially to
newspapers (so they don’t have to re-type your
letter).
