Toolkit: Writing a letter to the editor
Introduction
Thank you for signing up to write a letter to the editor with Greenpeace USA! If you haven’t signed up yet, make sure to fill out this form so you can get the support you need while writing your letter to the editor (LTE).
Congress has spent most of the fall working on historic legislation called the Build Back Better Act that could have unprecedented effects on the future of our climate. Volunteers like you have organized for over six months to make sure that the fossil fuel industry stops receiving billions in taxpayer money by ensuring the Build Back Better Act eliminates fossil fuel subsidies.
No matter what happens with the Build Back Better Act, we need to ensure that members of Congress are held accountable for what they did to strengthen or weaken the bill. By writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, you will be sharing how this legislation will be impacting you and your community — and making sure that Congress members’ actions will not be forgotten.
Through writing a letter to the editor, you’ll tell your story and share how this issue affects your community — and how your representatives either showed up for the climate and health — or turned away. Fossil fuels have no place in a safe and healthy future — whether they’re being used to create dirty energy or single-use plastics. Whether you’ve breathed in smoke from climate-fueled wildfires, live near a petrochemical plant turning gas into plastic, or are concerned about the future of your kids and grandkids, we want you to share about it in your letter to the editor.
The Basics
Why Letters to the Editor?
Placing letters to the editor in media outlets across the country is one of the best ways we can keep climate action in the news while showing corporations and elected officials that we are holding them accountable.
Tying your letter to the editor into current events provides an opportunity to give a new or overlooked perspective. Letters to the editors (LTE) are usually 200-250 words and respond (either agree or disagree) to a specific article in a news outlet. Make sure your word count is in line with the exact requirements laid out by the newspaper you are aiming to publish in!
Questions to ask yourself when writing your LTE:
- Why should we readers trust you? Make sure to present your personal connection to the topic, why you relate to the issue as a community member, parent, student, business owner, etc. Sharing your own personal experiences to back up your point of view goes a long way! You are an expert in your own story. Make sure to include your personal motivation about the issues – why do you care about the issue?
- Can you back up what you say? Is your argument based on evidence – solid material and logical building blocks that will be acknowledged as credible even by those who may disagree with your interpretation? We’ll give you tons of talking points to use in your letter.
- What’s new? Is your argument different, particularly original in the way it is delivered, or is it backed up by substantially new information or reporting? What is compelling about its contribution to the conversation?
- So what? Why should everyone else – including those of us who are not experts in your area – care?
- What’s the difference between being “right” and being “effective”? Does your language tend to write off the people who would disagree with you, or do you employ empathy and respect in the pursuit of changing minds?
- How will your ideas and arguments contribute to the conversation, and be helpful to your audience? Do you see your knowledge and experience in terms of its potential value to others?
When you’re writing a letter to the editor, here are some things you’ll definitely want to include. Remember to be as specific as possible!
- Make your writing stand out by making it personal.
- Make sure that it is timely! Look for a recently published article in the same publication to respond to with your LTE. This is the number one thing you can do to ensure your LTE is published.
- Include your demand or suggestions for improvement.
- Make sure to end it with the next steps for a reader to take action. How can people help or what do you hope to achieve by writing your piece?
Getting Started: The Basics
Own Your Expertise
Know what you are an expert in and why – but don’t limit yourself. Consider the metaphors that your experience and knowledge suggest.
Stay Current
Follow the news – both general and specific to your areas of specialty. If you are writing about congressional legislation, make sure you’ve read other stories about the legislation and that you know what the current status is.
The Perfect Is The Enemy Of The Good
In other words: learning to write strong letters to the editor takes practice! It’s better to submit something, even if it’s not perfect, than to submit nothing at all. Just write from your own experience and don’t overthink it!
Cultivate A Flexible Mind
Remember that a good idea may have more than one news hook, indeed if the idea is important enough it can have many. So keep an eye out for surprising connections and new news hooks – the opportunity may come around again.
Use Plain Language
Jargon serves a purpose, but it is rarely useful in public debate, and can obfuscate – sorry, we mean cloud 😉 – your argument. Speak to your reader in straight talk.
Respect Your Reader
Never underestimate your reader’s intelligence, or overestimate their level of information. Recognize that your average reader is not an expert in your topic, and that the onus is on you to capture their attention – and make the argument compelling.
Writing Structure
Note: this structure is not a rule! This is just one way of approaching it.
Lede (Around A News Hook)
A lede is what sets the scene and grabs your reader’s attention – it is your introduction. A news hook is what makes your piece timely, and often is part of the lede. (More Information on ledes and news hooks is below.)
Thesis
Statement of argument – either explicit or implied. Essentially – the main piece of your argument and why you’re writing today.
Argument
Based on evidence (such as stats, news, reports from credible organizations, expert quotes, scholarship, history, first-hand experience)
Your personal connection to your topic
Sharing your own personal experiences to back up your point of view goes a long way! You are an expert in your own story. Make sure to include your personal motivation about the issues – why do you care about the issue?
1st Point
- Evidence
- Evidence
- Conclusion
2nd Point
- Evidence
- Evidence
- Conclusion
Note: In a simple, declarative op-ed (“policy X is bad; here’s why”), this may be straightforward. In a more complex commentary, the 3rd point may expand on the bigger picture—historical context, global/geographic picture, mythological underpinnings, etc.— or may offer an explanation for a mystery that underpins the argument– eg., why a bad policy continues, in spite of its failures.
“To Be Sure” Paragraph
In which you pre-empt your potential critics by acknowledging any flaws in your argument, and address any obvious counter-arguments.
Conclusion
Wrap it up, often Circling Back To Your Lede.
Where to Submit
The Op-ed Project is a resource that compiles hundreds of newspapers’ standards and guidelines for submitting a letter to the editor or op-ed piece. Keep in mind that outlets come in a wide variety of flavors; don’t limit yourself to one or two publications only. Major outlets such as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal are obviously very selective when it comes to op-ed pieces, so instead of reaching only for those, take a moment to think about where your ideas will be of greatest contribution and will have the greatest odds of being published. Think local, where folks in your area are most likely to read your letter.
Remember, certain submissions work better for certain outlets, so be sure to research and understand your target publisher before submitting. If you decide to aim for The Wall Street Journal or New York Times first — great. It’s good to aim high. But don’t stop there. Have a plan B, C and D ready, in case The Times doesn’t bite. You may have better odds at a smaller or local publication or an industry publication that specializes on your topic. And creating a track record of success at smaller outlets can eventually increase your odds at larger outlets.
- Read the directions and consult the Op-ed project
- Follow the directions for your specific publication
Look up the guidelines for your local newspaper.
- If it’s a form: submit according to the websites’ directions
- If it’s an email: add 1 paragraph to explain your LTE
- Make sure to look for the required word count and stick to it!
- What is new or fresh in your piece
- Why is this relevant right now
- Why it makes sense for their outlet
- Read the directions! What does it ask you to include? (headshot, phone number, etc.
Take your impact to the next level: Letter to the Editor Parties!
If you’re part of a Greenpeace Action Pod (or are thinking about starting an Action Pod), we encourage you to host a Letter to the Editor Party! At your party, guests will go over the process of writing a letter to the editor, then everyone writes their own letter to a news outlet of their choice. Remember, the more letters that can potentially be published, the better. It’s also important that each letter to the editor is uniquely written in the voice of its author. By the end of your party, there’s a good chance that all the letters to the editor will not be finished. At the very least though, folks will leave with a plan, an outline, and a draft of what they’ve already written that they can complete in the next few days.
Below is a sample agenda on how to structure a 2 hour long Letter to the Editor Party:
Sample agenda:
0:00 – 0:10 mins – Welcome and introductions
- Welcome everyone and thank them for coming. Invite them to grab a drink or snack of their own so you all can hang out while you talk and write. (Or if your event is virtual, encourage them to get a snack and a beverage wherever they are!)
- Have your guests introduce themselves, and talk about why they decided to attend this event. Begin with yourself so you can model what to say!
0:10 – 0:15 mins Talk about why this moment is so important for our climate
- Right now, Congress is drafting and will soon be voting on historic legislation called the Build Back Better Act that could have unprecedented effects on the future of our climate. We have been working over the past six months to make sure that the fossil fuel industry stops receiving billions in taxpayer money by ensuring the Build Back Better Act eliminates fossil fuel subsidies.
- Our next step is to make sure our representatives — and our communities — know how Congress showed up during this time so that we can hold them accountable for either supporting or hindering this legislation from moving forward.
- Through writing an LTE, you’ll tell your story and share how this issue affects your community — and how your representatives either showed up for the climate and health — or turned away.
0:15 – 0:35 mins Training on how to write a letter to the editor
- Make sure everyone has the link to the LTE toolkit
- Go section by section, reviewing the toolkit
- Look at sample LTEs as a group before you start your own writing
0:35 – 0:45 Q&A, and assigning news outlets to each writer
- Before you start letter writing, make sure no one has any remaining questions.
- Decide who is writing letters to which news outlets. It’s OK to have multiple letter submissions to the same local newspaper, but make sure if this happens that the letters are very different from each other!
0:45 – 1:45 Letter to the Editor Writing
- Make sure everyone has a way to write their letter! They can draft their letters directly in our submission form, on their computer, or start their draft with a pen and paper!
- Ask folks to start filling out the basics of their LTEs and answering the questions laid out in the “basics” section of the toolkit.
1:45 – 2:00 Debrief
- Allow some time for folks to talk about their letter-writing experience, and share any stories or highlights.
- Wrap up the meeting with the group based on the deadline for submitting your letters. As the meeting facilitator, make sure to follow up with folks after the meeting for any support they may need.
- Before you go – take a photo or screenshot of your party and share it with us on the #event-support Slack channel.
In-person event Covid Protocols:
- Volunteers must be fully vaccinated (and show their vaccination cards to the event host)
- In-person groups should be 10 people or fewer (if you expect more than 10 attendees please reach out to us at [email protected])
- Event attendees must adhere to mask-wearing at all times and 6 feet social distancing at all times.
- If possible, the host will open a window to improve ventilation of the space.
- Hand sanitizer should be made available and used by all.
How you’re going to be supported
Since you have signed up to write a letter to the editor, Greenpeace USA’s Distributed Organizing Team is here to support you in your writing, editing, and publishing process! You’ll be supported in the following ways:
- We’ll be hosting a live LTE training on November 9 at 8:00pm ET / 5:00pm PT.
- Once you sign up to write an LTE, we will periodically reach out to you to answer any questions you may have about the letter-writing process.
- Our team will look over your LTE draft and either send it through to your local paper or provide edits/feedback to improve it! Share your LTE draft via this form.
- If you want, we will help you submit your LTE to the outlet of your choice.
LTE Training
Join us for a live LTE training on November 9th at 8:00pm ET / 5:00pm PT. RSVP here. During this training we’ll be going over this toolkit as well as taking time to start the LTE writing process! If you can’t make the live training, the recording will be posted here the day after.
Questions
If you have any questions or run into any issues, reach out to the Distributed Organizing Team at [email protected]
If you are currently participating in a Greenpeace Action Pod, your personal coach will be your point of support for this tactic. Once you commit to writing a letter to the editor, you’ll be contacted by Greenpeace USA staff or your coach.