How to write a letter to the editor

How in God’s green earth can you write a meaningful, sensible letter to the editor?  The answer is really very simple.  All you have to do is follow a few easy rules.  Those rules will be explained below.

The first thing you have to do is get the reader’s immediate attention.  You can do this by using what is called a H.H.C.  (That stands for Ho-Hum-Crasher)  The H.H.C. must be followed by a W.B.T.U.  (That stands for Why Bring That Up)  The W.B.T.U. tells the reader why you used the H.H.C. in the first place. It was to get his attention, and how it is related to the subject matter you intend to put forth.  I hope the use of the acronyms is not confusing.  It is not meant to be.

After you have gotten the reader’s attention and told him the subject, you must give solid fact based information to back up your argument.  This information is called F.I.’s (For Instance)  The number of F.I.’s should be at least three, but usually not more than five as you do not want to  bore the reader to death.  Each F.I. should be such that the reader can easily verify the information.  An Opinion based F.I. is just that, and can be dismissed by someone that disagrees with the statement.  If you use a fact based F.I., the reader can easily research the matter through simple logic or some simple research.

After you have presented your F.I.’s, you then use a S.W. (So What) to summarize your argument.  This S.W. should be precise and not long winded.  You do not want to confuse the reader. You want him to understand why you wrote the article in the first place.

Now, assuming that you have completed this article, please reread it and see if I followed my own rules.

Dal Wolf.  Naples and   “Up North”