Friends' Resource Center
These materials are intended for general reference only with the understanding that the Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service.
Letters to the Editor
A Dozen Tips for Writing a Simple Letter to the Editor
- Before you start, familiarize yourself well with the publication/website to understood its audience, the geographical area it covers, and its overall approach and tone. Tailor the letter to all of that.
- Read the publication’s/website’s letter-to-the-editor policies and procedures. Follow them closely.
- Think for a few minutes about precisely what you want to say. Then consider how you can say it most concisely, interestingly and impactfully.
- Aim to make one point in the letter — one primary point supported by a few facts, ideally not-widely-known and/or rarely reported facts.
- Keep the letter short. 150 words max for a print publication; 200 for a website.
- Write the letter in conversational plain English that the audience of the publication/website can easily understand. Avoid government or science jargon and acronyms, all of which can be confusing and off-putting. For newspapers and general news sites, the audience is everyday people. For specialized magazines, blogs or websites, the audience is specialized and the letter’s language should be specialized, too.
- If possible, cite a recent article from the publication or website that relates to the letter’s point. Cite the article by date, headline and/or URL.
- Make sure the letter is factually accurate. Double-check everything: all spelling, names, numbers, dates, places, titles, etc. Factual sloppiness, typos or bad grammar hurts the letter’s chance of being accepted.
- Stick to the issue(s) at hand. Avoid personal attacks. Feel free to be critical of a person’s policy or actions but not of the individual per se.
- Once you’ve written the letter, but before submitting it, self-edit it for clarity, brevity and accuracy.
- Then, before submitting the letter, to make sure it is clear to everyday people, run it past at least one other person who is not familiar with refuges and who is not afraid to make constructive editing suggestions.
- When you submit the letter, include your name, town, phone number and email address so the editors can reach you with questions. Make clear that your phone and email are NOT for publication.
Author Bill O’Brian, March 2025
Sample Letter Citing a Recent Article
Editor,
Regarding the March 2 article, “Regional Economy Shows Signs of Slowing”: The random federal government layoffs recently announced by Elon Musk and President Trump are likely to make matters worse.
Take XYZ National Wildlife Refuge, for example. In addition to serving as a buffer that eases the impact of severe storms on local people and property, and beyond providing outdoor recreation for visitors, the refuge has important financial benefit to this region.
By attracting wildlife watchers, anglers, hunters and hikers from outside the area, the refuge contributes an estimated $X.X million to our local economy. The layoffs have reduced staff at the refuge by X[number] positions, and those layoffs put all of the refuge’s benefits to our community at risk.
Please tell Rep. Jane Doe [the local member of Congress] and Sens. John Smith and Susan Jones [the state’s two U.S. senators] to protect our refuge against harmful cuts coming from Washington. Call 202-224-3121 and ask for their offices.
Your Name, Your Town
Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx (not for publication)
Email: xxxxx@xxxxx.com (not for publication)
A Sample Letter Not Citing a Recent Article
Editor,
The random federal government layoffs recently announced by Elon Musk and President Trump are likely to hurt our local economy in ways that might not be immediately apparent.
Take XYZ National Wildlife Refuge, for example. In addition to serving as a buffer that eases the impact of severe storms on local people and property, and beyond providing outdoor recreation for visitors, the refuge has important financial benefit to this region.
By attracting wildlife watchers, anglers, hunters and hikers from outside the area, the refuge contributes an estimated $X.X million to our local economy. The layoffs have reduced staff at the refuge by X[number] positions, and those layoffs put all of the refuge’s benefits to our community at risk.
Please tell Rep. Jane Doe [the local member of Congress] and Sens. John Smith and Susan Jones [the state’s two U.S. senators] to protect our refuge against harmful cuts coming from Washington. Call 202-224-3121 and ask for their offices.
Your Name, Your Town
Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx (not for publication)
Email: xxxxx@xxxxx.com (not for publication)
Thanks for posting this!