When to write a letter to the Editor:

1. If you agree or disagree with a current local or national news story, other letters to the Editor or any news article in the publics’ attention.
2. If you want to reach a large number of people that you would not ordinarily come in contact with. (Our politicians do read the editorials from their home newspaper.)
3. If you have an opinion about a topic that is currently of strong interest.

What to say and how to say it:

1. Start the letter off indicating what the issue is that you wish to discuss, such as: date, headline, where you saw it and a good general rule would be the name of the newspaper and author. This will be your first paragraph
2. Your second paragraph is very important, so state your position clearly. ("I agree", "I disagree with" , "I question", etc.)
   Give facts, statistics, quotes, and info you may have to prove your point but don’t get too technical or long winded.
3. Say what you feel should be done about it in your opinion, and remember: it is only you opinion and not anyone else’s. They frown on hearsay.
4. The third and last paragraph is closing the letter and sometimes a little flattery or sucking up to the newspaper is in line. Remember: you catch more bees with honey and after you just ripped someone’s @#* in paragraph two you want them to know you think they are fine but need to do better.

Things you should not ever say or do:

1. Do not write like a redneck.
2. Do not use foul language.
3. Do not use people’s names, unless they are a public figure and their views on the subject are public knowledge.
4. When responding to another letter writers view – avoid using their name but refer to them as the "Letter writer who said."
5. 250 words maximum and that is sometimes hard to do when you have much to say, so keep everything short and sweet.
6. Do not quote what you heard! Hearsay as in court does not count and they will not print it.
7. Do not get sidetracked or in other works stick to the subject and avoid meandering.
8. Do not ever, ever threaten anyone or anything.
9. Do not use words or phrases such as ‘bleeding heart liberal’, ‘stupid dumb redneck’, or ‘ridiculous.’
10. Do not resort to name calling or stereotypical cauterizations such as ‘you religious fanatics’ or ‘crazy feminists.’
11. Do not sound like a fanatic yourself.
12. Do not use ABATE in your article – you may be proud of your affiliation but there are people who will dismiss what you said because they align you with ‘just another fanatical group’. You are speaking for yourself and not for ‘ABATE.’
13. Do not forget to write your phone number, both day and night numbers and your name and address on the letter. If they can’t reach you by phone to verify your letter and that you intended if to be published, you did it all for nothing. The first 5 days after receiving it is when they usually call.

General tips:

1. Make it short and brief – 200 to 250 words.
2. Make sure your topic is of interest to many others.
3. When responding to news articles make sure you finish and send you letter in a timely manner: within 3 days.
4. Write your letter in one sitting, leave it set for a few hours or wait until the next day. Then proofread it and edit or change things to make it sound better. I have found that if you go back later and reread what you wrote with a neutral perspective you will find things are better said in a different way.
5. Try and use big words in proper instances such as, instead of "I don’t like" use "I’m displeased with" or instead of "it sucks" use "its not palatable". "Against my rights" might sound better if you said, "it infringes on my constitutional freedoms".
6. Stick to your point – do not ramble on with non-useful information.
7. Try and use a different angle or slant on the subject. Touch on some fact, or explain in a different way, in order to make your letter interesting.
8. Send the original letter but make copies for yourself.
9. Type written letters are preferred over handwritten letters to the editor.

Tips for letters to politicians:

1. The above guidelines also apply to writing politicians.
2. Handwritten letters are preferred over typed letters when writing to politicians.
3. If you are sending a handwritten letter to a politician and tell them you are a registered voter, you had better be just that. Their aides check the computers at times to verify your voter status.
4. Our elected officials have indicated many times to me that one letter equals 150 to 200 voters with the same opinion. So you see a flurry of letters on one subject can influence their vote on a bill being voted on. You know they are concerned with votes next time they are up for reelection.
5. When writing politicians about a bill being considered make sure you give the bill number. The "S-" prefix designates Senate bills and the "H-" prefix designates the House of Representatives bills.
6. Find out where the bill is at the time subcommittee, full committee or on the floor for a vote.
7. It is better to write to committee members at the time of debate. If you want to stop a bill then the subcommittee is where you start digging. If it gets tied up in committee because of indecision, it has a good chance of dying.
8. When writing to politicians about seatbelt or helmet enactment’s try and stress your constitutional rights and governments habit of overreaching and taking your adult decisions away from you. I like to tell them I would rather have them enact laws form the head – not from the heart!
9. Do not fax letters to politicians and do not e-mail. (Unless time is of the essence.)

Organizing Letter Writing Parties

Timing of Letter Writing Parties for Greatest Effect:

1. When a Bill is introduced,
2. When a Bill is in committee so you can target committee members,
3. Any time during the legislative session when an issue is in the news.
4. Setting them up-
5. You can do them before, during or after a normal meeting, or
6. Plan a special "Letter Writing Party".

Tips for organizers:

1. Provide the things folks needed to write the letters like pens, paper, etc.,
2. Provide a dictionary,
3. Provide a list of the legislators or committee members and their addresses,
4. Have some sample letters for folks to have something to go by,
5. Have copies of the current Bills that would be good topics for letters,
6. Collect the letters, pay for the postage and mail them.
7. To make the party most effective; it’s a good idea to have check point set up that in order to get to the food, beer or whatever that the people must first write a letter.

Tips to attract more participants:

1. Provide doors prizes to be given by drawing from the completed letters,
2. Provide a prize to the person who writes the most letters,
3. Provide some food and some fun for after the letters are done.

ABATE does not advocate riding without a helmet; ABATE advocates that you have the right to decide. ABATE does not condone drinking and driving or riding. Contributions to ABATE of South Carolina, Inc., or any of its chapters are not tax deductible.

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