Researching for this page I was struck by the number of style guides - guides to good writing - which managed to break most of the rules they proposed! Even the otherwise excelent guide to plain English isn't perfect! (that's just an opinion, of course! Check it out for yourself at www.plainenglish.co.uk)
So I've tried to keep this page short and simple...
Writing for your parish mag or the Mothers' Union Newsletter
Being a short and simple guide to writing for your parish mag or the Mothers' Union Newsletter.
Keep it short, no. 1
As a guide, aim to provide not more than two pages for your article. A single page is an excellent alternative. An average parish magazine page might hold between 250 and 350 words depending on how it's printed and how many pictures apear on the page.
Keep it short, no. 2
Avoid long sentences.
Keep it short, no. 3
Avoid long words.
Keep it simple
If you follow guidelines 1 to 3 above, your article or report will already be pretty simple. Short words and short sentences are easy to read. But also remember that your readers might not understand your topic as well as you do. So avoid abbreviations without explanation. For example, will all your readers know what AFIA stands for? We know it's the Mothers' Union Away From It All holiday scheme, but some of your readers might like to have it spelled out. For another example: many articles - and, for that matter, many sermons - are spoiled by trying to cover too much detail and too many subjects. They would be improved by being split into a sries of articles or sermons.
Keep it interesting and relevant!
If you follow the guidelines here you will find almost anything you write will be interesting! But your articles also need to be relevant. Writing about your activities last Christmas isn't that interesting in mid-August! Better to write suggestions for next Christmas...
And finally...
Finally, please don't be put off by any of the above! Please don't let anything I've written here put you off writing for your parish magazine or for the Mothers' Union Newsletter! Your editor might want to suggest a few changes to make it fit the magazine better (he or she will in an y case silently correct any spelling problems and so on) but all editors depend on those generous people who share their thoughts, ideas and experiences with the rest of us. In short: they depend on you!