Keep it short

Editors cut from the bottom of a letter, so put your main point at the top. Letters should have short sentences. Ideally, they should be no more than two or three paragraphs long. Check your targeted publication for specific word count guidelines.

Name, please

Put your full first and last name, address, phone numbers (day and evening) and your e-mail address at the top of the letter. Most publications will want to call the writer to confirm that you wrote it; however, they only publish your name and general location.

Engage with your opening

You have the best chance of swaying opinion if you open with a "big idea" or value, something to which most people already have a deep understanding or connection. For example, freedom, broad prosperity, security, common good, etc. Be sure to check out the Communicating Effectively About Government in Your Writing page for more tips.

Identify the article to which you are responding 

If you're commenting on an article in the paper, mention the title, date and page number of the article. If you're commenting on a specific political position or speech, restate it briefly. Don't assume the reader knows what you're talking about.

Stick to one topic

Deal with just one issue, article or speech in your letter. If you have several points to make, write a short letter to the editor for each and then get family and friends to send in the others.

Essential Elements of a Letter

Dear Editor,

Open with reference and your big idea: I really appreciate your February 14 editorial, (or give page number) article (title), and the effort you make to demonstrate the amazing things we can accomplish for the common good when we work together.

Use the second paragraph to illustrate the problem and solution: This is why our public structures, like the library and the community center, need to be repaired. When we have places to come together and public resources open to all, we make are communities stronger, healthier and more in line with the American ideal of equal opportunity. Right now, the only revenue option in play is an override.

Close with a concise point: A vote for an override is a vote for a stronger (town name).

Sincerely,

Name
Address
Phone Numbers

Communicating effectively about government in your writing

It's critically important that we affirm the important role government plays in our lives, rather then playing into the negative views of government many in our community may have. 

The following is a list of guidelines we can keep in mind as we write our letters to the editor:

1. Stay positive and build confidence. Start by highlighting what we can accomplish together through government, not what we are not doing.

2. Begin communication with big ideas that connect people to shared values and frame the context for your discussion.

3. Define the problem in terms of systems -- not individuals -- to keep people focused on changing the structure, not fixing the person.

4. Develop understandable metaphors to help people see the issue clearly and simply (e.g. the heart is a "pump" or the wetlands act as a "filter").

5. Don't use negative images (e.g. "tax burden") that reinforce anti-government stereotypes.

6. Use social math so numbers have more meaning. For example, "If the override passes, the average homeowner would pay $365 more a year -- the cost of a cup of coffee a day."

7. Discussions should emphasize problem-solving. Shrill attacks trigger listeners' knee-jerk political loyalty responses.

8. Connect with people as fellow citizens solving public challenges, not as consumers or caretakers of other people's needs. 

9. Research shows that using the term "public structures" helps people move past stereotypes of politicians and huge bureaucracies to a more practical view of government systems such as transportation, public safety or public schools. 

10. Always include solutions and the role citizens can play in making change.

GETTING PUBLISHED IN THE MWDN

Please send a letter to the editor of the Opinion/Editorial pages of the MetroWest Daily News. Submissions need to be 250 words or fewer for consideration. The address is: 

mailto:'mdnletters@ cnc.com'.

LETTER CONTENT OR TOPIC IDEAS-in case you are looking for some ideas

• Proposition 2 ½  Primer; details of schoolsʼ/townʼs rising cost

• Chapter 70 Primer 
• Whatʼs been cut before; realities of cut items unlikely to come back (1990 firefighters, school positions, police dispatchers, etc.)
• Long-term effects of a pared-down education 
• Difference between this year’s override and last year’s 
• Role of Administrators: Primer 
• If you can’t afford it, vote no, but we can’t collectively let the town go downhill; get stats from police & fire chiefs indicating what percent of our public safety efforts are spent taking care of youth crime, accidents, etc. and how they see that might increase with more idle kids if the override doesn’t pass. 
• Encourage folks to support the Ashland Emergency Fund and Food Pantry as part of their year-round giving. 
• Present other options available to seniors, handicapped, vets, etc.; encourage legislature to develop a tax program that exempts those for whom an increase will be a hardship (see New York’s STAR Program). 
• Personal stories from families in town on what the override means to them