Chapter One: Think Before You Ink

When did family newsletters get such a bad reputation? I’d often wondered until I started putting together this book. You see, I’ve been asking everyone I know the same question, “Have you received any good family newsletters lately?” The answer has been surprisingly consistent. “Oh, we’ve received some. But not any good ones.”

The bad newsletters lead to other bad newsletters—since they’re the only ones people can use as models when they sit down to create their own newsletter. It’s time to change that. Let’s tackle the problem spots right now and then move into showing examples of successful family newsletters.

This chapter guides you through some of the do’s and don’ts. It helps you select the publication format best suited to the materials you have on hand and to your capabilities and interests.

Watch Out for These Trouble Spots

Problem: Time of severe trauma or sadness. The death of a loved one or other times of sadness make it hard (or sometimes impossible) to write or result in a very sad newsletter.

Solution: Many newsletter creators miss an issue from time to time because “they just can’t” put together the newsletter. Others get contributions from others (see page 90) to pull the family together through the difficult times. Others wait until later and then make a short statement telling what has happened and thanking family and friends for their support.

Problem: Right amount of detail. Short newsletters that read like laundry lists or long newsletters telling readers more than they ever wanted to know.

Solution: If you’re having trouble filling the newsletter, see pages 77 to 87 for content ideas. If you have trouble shortening the news, ask a friend to help you. Ask a few people to read your newsletter and highlight the most interesting information (see worksheet on page 88). Save the long version for your scrapbook and shorten down the final letter.

Problem: Health updates. Describing unpleasant details such as deaths, surgery or pain in timeline or detailed fashion.

Solution: Make one statement telling what has happened after waiting for the event to take perspective. Devote the detail of unpleasant events to describing how you are thankful for the help that family or friends gave you during the trying time (see yellow box to the left). If a loved one has passed, consider sharing memories of a special time.

Problem: Children’s accomplishments. Discussing children’s grades, trophies, awards, teacher conferences, sports results.

Solution: Have the children write about themselves. Or, ask them questions and write using their words. Write about or show photos of children’s specific gifts and talents such as their favorite school subjects. Mention what the children are doing, not quantifying how they are winning.

Here’s an example of effective news of children:
“The children are doing great. Patrick and Keenan did really well in school the previous six weeks. Patrick received A’s and B’s in all his classes and Keenan earned S’s. They both need to improve their reading skills, and Keenan is going to have to learn to concentrate for a full day of school. But, all in all, they are doing excellent.

“Sara is doing exceptionally well in ‘Daddy’s School.’ She’s an expert in the installation of sprinkler systems, laying sod and installing basketball goals. In the next semester, we are planning an agricultural class, a fence installation class and techniques to escape trouble from behind trees and in the rough by utilizing a weak left hand grip to slice the ball.”

Problem: Parent’s accomplishments. Telling so much about a business venture that it seems like a sales pitch.

Solution: If your friends are interested in your business, put them on your business mailing list. This way, they’ll receive separate mailings that keep them up to date on your ventures.
For both parents and children, let everyone create their own brag list. List it as a “Brag List” and use a numbered or bulleted list.

Problem: Hard to read text. People have trouble reading long lines of type, no matter how interesting or fun it is.

Solution: Increase the page margins to at least one inch on each side.

Problem: Bats and Balls!!! (School-teachers’ lingo for exclamation points.) Every other sentence ends with an exclamation point.

Solution: Let your writing and content share your enthusiasm. It’s much more effective than !!!!’s. Save them for the punch line or surprise ending of a story or joke.

Miscellaneous Notables
> Balance vacation and trip news with everyday news.
> When including news of kids, describe them for the people who’ve never met them. “Johnny is five and Susan is eight” doesn’t tell much.
> Define relationships. For example, “Kate was the flower girl in Chris’ (my nephew) wedding.”
> With letters, consider sending a photo.
> Unless writing a newsletter solely for your children’s scrapbooks, avoid referring to yourselves as “Mommy” and “Daddy.”
> Watch for overuse of baby language—even when put in quotes.
> Watch for overuse of jargon and common expressions (if you find yourself wanting to put it in quotes—things like “Supermom” “Mommy’s little helper” “set up shop” etc. look for another way to say it.)
> Avoid using the mailmerge feature of word processing to personalize the salutation. Instead, handwrite a personal note.
> Avoid news of lawsuits.
> Explain who’s in photos.
> Do not apologize for sending a newsletter in the opening paragraph. Consider using humor instead to acknowledge that not everyone likes newsletters.