12/02/03

Writing Emails to Online Authors and Media Journalists

This short piece is intended as a simple and general guideline to men's activists who send emails to online authors and media journalists in order to further their cause.

Well-known online authors and media journalists get hundreds of emails every day. There is no hope that they can read them all. And most of them do not even try.

There is rarely any point in writing a long insulting diatribe against authors and sending them the text of it via email. They will most likely simply hit the DELETE button before reading even the first three lines, and then move on. And, most importantly, you will have wasted your own time. 

If you must be insulting, then keep it down to a short paragraph! 

If you must be insulting, then keep it down to a short paragraph! 

However, emails that merely contain insults or make sweeping generalisations - "Your website/article stinks.", "I think that you are a bigot." - without making some reasonable argument as to why these things might be true, merely bolster the targeted recipients by confirming the view that their enemies are too stupid to worry about and/or cannot actually find any good grounds for any of their verbal assaults.

If there is a website that you support, always try to make some reference to it in any emails that you do send out. This is a very effective way of spreading your ideas and your general philosophy on the matters that concern you, and it gives the recipient the distinct and correct impression that you are not alone in your views.

You can always place a permanent link to your favourite website(s) in the 'signature' part of your emails - and this will save you from having to enter them manually each time.

It is quite astonishing how incomprehensible are many emails.

It is quite astonishing how incomprehensible are many emails. It might be obvious to you what you are saying when you use a simplified language without decent punctuation and grammar, or a fistful of abbreviations, but unless the recipients have some familiarity with the way in which you write and what your intentions are, it can be extremely difficult for them to work out what you are actually trying to say. 

And if they are busy people then they are very unlikely to spend their time trying to decipher the emails of those people who clearly did not spend that much time in writing them. 

Uninvited emails which have obviously been sent to a load of addresses are, on the whole, not going to be read by their intended targets. And, nowadays, 'bulk' filters often guarantee that they will automatically end up in the garbage can without any human beings ever clapping eyes on them.

Short emails of support sent to your favourite authors will be far more effective for your cause

Short emails of support sent to your favourite authors will be far more effective for your cause than will be hostile emails sent to authors of whom you disapprove. But, once again, if the author is well-known, do not necessarily expect to receive any reply.

When it comes to emailing large government departments or organisations, a different set of rules applies, and their staff are much more attentive to emails that they receive than are authors or journalists. 

However, having said this, it is well-known that emails - and even letters - with an antifeminist or politically-incorrect disposition are very often binned by those lower down the food chain who open them. And so they often do not actually reach their target destinations.

 there is a great deal to be gained by practising the art of writing clearly

Whomever you are communicating with, bear in mind that in a society where words rather than weapons are generally the most effective means with which to exert influence, there is a great deal to be gained by practising the art of writing clearly and learning to put across your arguments with force. Apart from anything else, doing this will make your opponents recognise that they might need to take careful notice of you and your opinions. 

Further, if you do not do this, then you will always be outgunned by those who do.

Of course, it isn't just within the context of activism where writing skills can empower you.

Whether you are writing a letter of complaint, trying to move up in your career, dealing with a lawyer or an official body, or furthering your education, in today's environment, the word is particularly more powerful than ever before. And every teensy bit of progress that you make in this area will have ramifications throughout your entire life!

 imagine that you are sitting in a chair with two hostile policemen staring you in the face

As just one example, imagine that you are sitting in a chair with two hostile policemen staring you in the face. The tape-recorder is running and the questions begin.

"And so, Sir, you're a keen writer are you?"

"Oh yes, I write for at least an hour a day. And then I publicise what I write."

"And what do you write about, Sir?"

"Oh, anything that comes to mind. You know. Anything that seems important to me. For example, tonight, or tomorrow, or perhaps even next week, I'll probably be writing about YOU!"

Well, if you are an effective writer, you have some considerable weaponry in your armoury. So, do practise at achieving this - and remember that there is always room for improvement!

Indeed, here in London, over half a million anti-war protestors are expected to be demonstrating in Hyde Park this coming Saturday.

Half a million!

That would make it the biggest ever demonstration in London.

And, guess what? 

Words did that!

The toughest and most charismatic person I've ever known was a convict whose prison handle was Snake. He told me that the authorities were afraid of him because he'd figured out their game, but they were more afraid of me because I could put it on paper. 

It's the best way to scare them.  

Jim Goad