Just starting out as a writer? A good place to start is by writing letters to the editor. Here’s a quick course on how:

1. Choose a publication to which you will send your letter.

2. Find out if the periodical has length guidelines. If not, aim for 150 to 200 words.

3. Be sure to include your name, address, phone number, and email address.

4. Focus. Object to one thing you read, express an opinion, or build awareness.

Objection:
Yesterday you asserted that Christians need to separate their religion from their politics. Why, then, have you complained in the past that “Christians are hypocrites”?

Current events:
Why criticize Franklin Graham for asserting that Christians and Muslims worship different Gods? He’s right. Christians worship three persons in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Muslims believe in one God—one essence, one person—who has no son. In his failure to stick to politically correct rhetoric, Mr. Graham has demonstrated courage in pointing out that “the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes.”

Awareness:
For the one in six couples of childbearing age, Mother’s Day is M-Day, the most dreaded day of the year. Sadly despite our best efforts at education, three myths still make their way into most people’s thinking. The first: Just relax and you’ll get pregnant. The second: Just adopt and you’ll get pregnant.

“Statistics show that between 60 and 80 percent of newspaper readers read letters to the editor.” – Diane E. Butts, On Mission

©Sandra Glahn, 2004.