Advice to Letter Writers
To the Editor:
The letters in the OPINION section of the Fayette County Record are what I read more regularly than anything else in the paper However, the letters in the August 6 issue were pretty disappointing.
There were five letters.
One of them complains that everything wrong in Texas is the fault of the state governmental administration, dominated by Republicans. The implication is that everything in the state government is wrong and has been for twenty years. The majority of Texas voters, judging by how they vote, do not agree with this. However, this letter has two saving graces. First, it does not attack anyone personally, and second, it is short, well written and to the point.
A second letter pleads for patience in judging the efforts of the Ellinger city government in dealing with the water crisis. This letter also is short, to the point, well written and does not attack anyone by name. These characteristics always make a letter more effective.
The other three letters in this issue are disappointing.
They each make two serious mistakes. First, they complain loudly about the viewpoints and actions of other people, naming them repeatedly. Second, they do not quote any qualified sources for the arguments and conclusions which they are supporting or contesting. The sources quoted are all obviously biased politicians.
One of these letters occupies 22 column inches, but contains only fourteen sentences. The AVERAGE length of the sentences were 62 words. Sentences of this extreme length are pretty much meaningless. No reader can figure out the point of each sentence, much less the main point of the letter. The repeated use of names of writers of prior letters makes it clear what side the writer is on, but the verbiage presented fails completely to convey any understandable points.
One of the letters identifies lucidly an apparent problem with the process for identifying people who submit mail-in ballots. I don’t know enough about this process to be able to judge, but the criticism presented is quite believable. The writer makes the observation that “the Republicans are operating on ‘the big steal’ and the Democrats are operating on the ‘big lie.’” This seems like a remarkably true observation. The remainder of the letter is mostly unsubstantiated complaints about the representatives of the party the writer does not support.
The fifth letter starts with a personal attack on a prior letter writer and continues with five paragraphs of confusing conflicting information, finishing with a complaint about confusing conflicting disinformation. The letter is mostly an attack on the safety of the Covid-19 vaccinations. The efficacy of the vaccine has by now been clearly proven by dozens (or more) clinical studies throughout the world, amply reported in the press. Furthermore I have been told about a lot of first hand incidents which ALL establish the danger of the virus and the effectiveness of the vaccine. Well established facts simply cannot be ignored, even when you are trying to support political convictions.
The Fayette County Record is a very important resource for spreading information about what is going on in our community and our state and nation. I am in full support of a vigorous Letters to the Editor feature that is open to all of our citizens to express their views of all kinds. I wish that our vociferous letter writers would do a better job of it.
I suggest that we would be better served if letter writers would follow a few commonsense guidelines, such as these.
1. Keep letters as short as possible, or at any rate not too long. Your high school English teacher told you, with good reason, to state the subject and summarize the conclusion in the first paragraph.
2. Keep your sentences short. When the reader gets to the third point in one sentence the main point has been forgotten or is not likely to be recognized.
3. Avoid personal criticisms. It is important that each letter be signed by its writer, but personal attacks always divert the attention of the reader from the matters which the letter-writer wants to discuss. Don’t rant and rave. Presumably you are writing the letter to get the readers at least to consider the merits of some of your views. Telling them how stupid they are just raises their hackles.
4. Try to work some logic and facts into your discussion. Quoting the inanities of your opponents or the wisdom of your friends has very little effect on your readers, no matter where their sympathies lie. “Facts” are often in dispute but blindly following your political leaders in ignoring-established facts just deprives you of any credit with readers.
Dashing off a letter to the editor when you read something that upsets you may make you feel good but it will not earn you much credit for intelligence and has very little impact on readers.
I have violated my first guideline. I hope that is the only one.
Arnold Romberg
La Grange