Write to the Point

1
Write to the Point!

• A Progressives Guide to Writing Letters to
  Editors, Letters to Legislators, Press Releases
  and News Articles

2
Write to the Point!

• Instructors
• Dona Jean Gillespie djg602_at_aol.com
• Scott A. Smith scotty602bylaws_at_aol.com
• UAW Local 602
• 2510 W. Michigan Ave.
• Lansing MI 48917
• 517-372-4626 ext. 24

3
Write to the Point!Workshop

• Primary Focus
• framing the message
• Write to the Point! manual pages 21-26
• writing letters to the editor
• Write to the Point! manual pages 27-28
• writing letters to legislators
• Write to the Point! manual pages 29-30

4
Write to the Point! Workshop

• Part 1 Framing the Message
• Part 2 Write to the Point!

B r e a k !
5
Write to the Point! Class Norms

• One speaker at a time, as recognized by
  instructor
• Questions about course material are encouraged
  during class
• To ensure we have time to cover all the course
  materials, issues will be parked in a parking
  lot for later discussion Thank you

6
Write to the Point! Part I
W h a t i s f r a m i n g ?
7
Framing Is

• Words that promote a vision, such as the title of
  George Lakoffs book Dont think of an elephant
• What do you automatically think of?

8
(No Transcript)
9
Framing Is

• Words that evoke an image or a vision
• Most frames develop randomly and naturally
• Common use ingrains frames in the minds of the
  public thru repeated use over time
• All words come with one or more frames

10
Frames are

• Words and phrases that represent a specific
  worldview, and evoke that worldview whenever used.

11
Framing the Message

• Tax relief
• Tort reform
• Partial birth abortion
• Death tax
• Marriage penalty

12
Example of Framing the Message

• Taxes are seen as a burden (negative value)
• Relief from paying taxes is good (benefit)
• Those who oppose tax relief are bad

13
Spinning is

• Language that evokes frames the users really
  dont believe in but generate public approval
• Spin is sometimes used to
• provide addition information/explanation
• deceive the public

14
Framing the Message

• The Republican Machine has carefully crafted a
  conservative moral framework over the past 40
  years

15
The Truth Shall Set Them Free!

• Not so. Voters will reject information that does
  not fit within their established frameset
• The truth alone will not set you free. You must
  communicate WHY something is true and WHY it
  matters
• Frames trump truth every time

16
NEVER USE THEIR LANGUAGE

• EVER!

17
Framing the Message

• Every word evokes a frame
• Words used within frames can evoke other frames
• Negating a frame evokes that frame (Dont think
  of an elephant!)
• Evoking a frame reinforces that frame

18
The facts

• Facts are on our side
• The truth shall set us free

19
The fact is

• Only those willing to accept the truth will be
  set free

20
Progressive Beliefs to Win the Vote

• The truth shall set you free
• People will vote in their self-interest
• Political campaigns are like marketing campaigns
• To re-take the nation we need access to the media

21

• WRONG!
• Frames trump facts!

22
The Progressive (Nurturant Parent) Worldview
Write to the Point! manual pages 15-20
23
Nurturant ParentWrite to the Point! manual page
15

• The world is basically good
• It can be made better no matter how difficult and
  dangerous it is
• Caring requires responsibility and empathy
• In society, nurturant morality is expressed as
  social responsibility
• Cooperation over competition

24
The Conservative(Strict Father)WorldviewWrite
to the Point! manual pages 16-20
25
Strict Father

• The world is and always will be a dangerous and
  difficult place
• To protect and support his family is a fathers
  job
• It is the fathers duty to teach his children
  right and wrong

26
Strict Father

• Children are inherently bad. They do what they
  want because it feels good and not what is moral
• They must be made good by using discipline
• Physical and painful punishment is expected when
  they err

27
Strict Father

• The mother is kept in the background. She is not
  strong enough to protect and support the family
  or to discipline the children on her own
• Mommies tend to be soft-hearted

28
Strict Father

• The world is evil and to defend against evil one
  must be morally strong or disciplined
• Strict father morality demonstrates a natural
  moral order
• The strict father does not ask permission

29
Nurturant Parent v. Strict Father

• A Nurturant Parent Desires A Strict Father
  Desires
• Freedom Control
• Fairness Competition
• Cooperation Survival of the fittest
• Openness Need to know
• Honesty Action
• Trust Loyalty
• It takes a village Individually pull
  yourself up by the bootstraps

30
Are you strict or nurturant?

• Most people employ the strict father model in
  some settings and the nurturant parent model in
  other settings.
• Which model represents your predominant
  perception of morality?

31
Reclaim or Reframe?

• When the oppositions frame clearly promotes the
  strict father morality, re-frame the message to
  reflect the nurturant parent morality
• When the opposition distorts the true meaning of
  a frame, reclaim it, but

32
Reclaim the Frame

• Reclaiming a misused frame is harder than
  reframing a message in progressive terms
• Readers/listeners will unconsciously resist a new
  definition of a familiar frame
• Every time you use a reclaimed frame, you must
  define and explain it in progressive terms

33
Five Steps to Framing

• Define our basic progressive vision
• Establish our values
• Define the principles
• Derive policy directions
• Establish a ten-word bumper sticker

34
The Progressive Vision

• The Progressive vision (or morality) is based
  on
• empathy and
• responsibility commitment to the common good
  (majority rules, so to speak)

35
Progressive Values

• When you empathize with someone, you want
• To protect them from harm
• To help them reach their full potential
• To see them treated fairly

36
Progressive Policies

• Quality, affordable health care
• Quality public education
• Renewable energy resources
• Respect for environment
• Job creation
• Fair taxation

37
For more on Framing

• Framing Primer for a Progressive Revolution
• By Tom Ball
• www.demspeak.com

Dont think of an elephant By George
Lakoff Rockridgeinstitute.org
Write to the Point! manual pages 39-40
38
Questions?
39
B r e a k !
40
Write to the Point! manual

• Terms, tips tools
• Conservative v. Progressive
• Evolution of the grunt
• Framing
• Letter to the Editor
• Letter to Legislator
• Press Release
• News Article

41
Write to the Point! Part II
Terms, Tips Tools Write to the Point!
manual pages 7-11
42
E E E S
43
EEES What the News Does

• Educate
• Entertain
• Explain
• Serve

44
EEES What the News Does

• Educate
• The news informs its readers
• Entertain
• Opinions advice columns, movie critiques, sports
  pages, and comic section all seek to entertain
  the reader

45
EEES What the News Does (Contd)

• Explain
• Events can be interpreted (or misinterpreted) in
  many ways
• Serve
• Church services, meeting announcements,
  obituaries, classified ads, etc. are examples of
  service-oriented news

46
EEES What Your News Should Do

• Your news should Educate, Explain, Entertain or
  provide a Service in order to engage your
  readers interest

47
W I I F M ?
48
Whats In It For Me?
W I I F M ?
49
WIIFM? Whats in It for Me?

• Bullet points are not enough!
• You must connect the dots
• Tell your readers how and why your issue affects
  them
• The sooner you tell whats in it for them, the
  more likely it is theyll read your complete
  article or letter

50
WIIFM - Whats in It for Me?

• Will your position on an issue make readers
  lives harder or easier?
• Will your issue position cost them money or save
  money?
• There must be a benefit to the readers or they
  will turn the page
• Present the benefit early in your writing

51
5Ws H
52
5Ws H

• Who?
• What?
• Why?
• Where?
• When?
• How?

53
Who?

• Why should readers care about the
• who? of your news story?
• Is who? a neighbor, a co-worker, an elected
  official or celebrity?
• Readers engage more fully when they can pair a
  face with a name

54
What?

• What? happened?
• Did a boat sink?
• A train derail?
• A bus crash?
• Is what? the first or last of something?
• Is what? something everybody cares about?
• Will what affect your readers lives?

55
Where?

• Where something takes place tells readers how
  relevant it is to their lives
• Something happening on my front porch is usually
  more important to me than something taking place
  on the other side of the planet

56
When?

• Timeliness is important.
• Did something just happen?
• Is something about to happen?
• Can the reader do anything to stop it from
  happening or help make it happen?
• Unless youre writing a research paper, biography
  or historical novel, old news carries less impact
  than news hot off the presses

57
Why?

• Why? something happened is critical
• To prevent it from happening again
• To learn from the mistakes of others
• To adopt, repeat or maintain something beneficial

58
How?

• Not just How, but
• How much?
• How often?
• How many people does it affect?
• Howd they do that?
• How can I do the same thing?

59
T h e 6 C ' s
60
T h e 6 C ' s

• Good writing is
• Clear
• Concise
• Complete
• Coordinated
• Consistent
• Credible

61
6 Cs - Clear

• Use everyday English, words every reader will
  understand
• Avoid big words and acronyms unless you provide
  definitions for them
• Avoid jargon and technical terms
• Write as if your audience is a group of Junior
  High School students
• Write to the Point! manual page 33

62
6 Cs - Concise

• Concise means short.
• Short words
• Short sentences
• Short paragraphs
• Short articles, letters etc.
• Newspaper readers read shorter letters to the
  editor first, longer letters only if they have
  time

63
Flesch-Kincaid Index MS Word
64
Flesch-Kincaid Index for MS Word
65
6 Cs Complete

• Complete means answering
• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• Why?
• How?
• And WIIFM? (Whats in it for me?)

66
6 Cs Coordinated

• Use the Inverted Pyramid format
• Most important news in the first paragraph
• Increasingly less important information in
  subsequent paragraphs
• The Inverted Pyramid allows editors to cut to
  fit available space without losing the most
  important information

67
6 Cs - Consistent

• Be consistentpick a style and stick with it
• Forms of address
• Titles
• Numbers
• Formatting
• Spelling
• Hyphenation

68
6 Cs - Credible

• Accuracy is everything!
• Credibility can make or break a writers
  reputation
• Credibility is easier to maintain than repair
• One typo, one wrong fact, or one misspelled name
  can discredit the entire work!
• Go the extra mile to fact-check and proofread!
  Proofread! Proofread!

69
E P I C
70
E P I C

• Engage
• Propose
• Illustrate
• Call to action

71
Clustering
72
Clustering

• Clustering is a free-form, self-organizing method
  of collecting your ideas and information before
  you start to write
• You will not use all the information in your
  cluster in a single letter or article, but do
  save it to recycle for other letters or articles
• Dont be surprised if your cluster takes you
  somewhere you hadnt planned to go just go with
  it!
• Write to the Point! manual pages

73
Clustering Step One
74
Clustering Step 2
75
(No Transcript)
76
Clustering

• If you run out of ideas, draw some connecting
  lines or arrows for a moment or two until
  something else comes to mind.

77
Clustering

• At some point in the clustering process, youll
  feel a sense of direction and know you are ready
  to write!

78
W r i t e a S a n d w i c h
79
W r i t e a S a n d w i c h

• A basic story resembles a sandwich it has
• A beginning
• A middle, and
• An end

80
Write a Sandwich Step 1

• Take three minutes to sketch a quick cluster on
  any topic you choose

81
Write a Sandwich Step 2

• Pick a target area of your cluster to write about

82
Write a Sandwich Step 3

• Write three paragraphs in 10 minutes
• Paragraph 1 introduce your topic (5WsH
  WIIFM)
• Paragraph 2 support your point of view with
  facts
• Paragraph 3 conclude your letter with the most
  important thought you want your reader to
  remember or act on
• Write to the Point! manual pages 27-33

83
Read Letters Aloud

• Your letter doesnt have to be perfect
• Your letter doesnt have to be finished
• You can learn from listening to others
• Others can learn from listening to you
• And last, but not least mail your letter!

84
Questions?
85
Write to the Point!

• Thank you!
• From
• Scott Dona Jean