Sourcing

Rule One – know your audience

As always, to capture a little of the potential readers’ time and attention, there has to be a clear “what’s in it for them?” – that is, a very early indication that they will gain something of value from reading an article or other item in your publication. The key phrase here is “something of value”, meaning something that they value”. Hence, we need to define our target audience and seek to understand what they enjoy reading (as opposed to the things we find fascinating or like to write about!).

That is not to say that readers should not be challenged – some of the best writing of all kinds often challenges readers to reflect on and perhaps reconsider their own attitudes to dilemmas and paradoxes that present themselves to citizens of the 21st century.

However, few readers enjoy being harangued, lectured or brow-beaten, however important the issue might be to the writer.

So, we need to have a clear sense of who our typical reader is (in marketing parlance, their demographic and psychographic profile) and to have a good understanding of the kind of things they are prepared to set time aside to read. A part of knowing your audience will also involve deciding who you are not writing for, since trying to be all things to all people is a recipe for the publication of bland pap that appeals to no-one!

Rule Two – write proper!

Poorly constructed or grammatically incorrect sentences can be very irritating to read, and this results in the reader being distracted from the intended content. If used intelligently, automated spell checkers can all but eliminate spelling errors, (although you may need to be sure that all contributors are using an identical dictionary on the same word processor – e.g., “British English” / MS Word). The odd typographical error is usually ignored by most readers, especially when they recognise that the publication is produced by willing volunteers, working in their own time. Nonetheless, sloppy proof-reading will soon irritate a large proportion of your readers, and your publication will lose public esteem. If readers perceive your publication to be “amateur”, they will be less inclined to devote their time and attention to it in future. So, a reasonably capable editor and tight proof-reading disciplines are very important.

Rule Three – KISS

One variant of this mnemonic is: “Keep it Short and Sweet”. An alternative is: “Keep it Simple, Stupid”! Whichever you prefer, the key message is that good writing is often based on relatively short sentences and simple, everyday language. Writers who seek to impress their readers (even at a subconscious level) with their highly educated or pompous vocabulary will all too often fail in that aim, and simply end up losing the interest of their reader. We would argue that a church magazine that is aimed at lay members and non-members alike, is not the place for complex exegesis, however erudite (irony intended!).

It is beyond the scope of this website to go into detail on the subject of writing in plain and simple language. However the web is a valuable source of much relevant advice. You can even plug examples of your text into online software that will analyse its level of complexity and gauge the average reading age that it demands of your readers. (Sample websites:

http://www.clearest.co.uk/

http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/

http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/alternative.pdf

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/resources/topical/reading/reading.htm

Rule Four – strike an appropriate tone

The ‘tone’ of a publication is a somewhat ephemeral characteristic that results from its style of writing. Again, we need to reflect carefully on the intended audience, and so create a tone that sits comfortably with those readers. Reading age (see above) will be a part of this. However, there will also be a need to judge the balance between serious and more light-hearted items. Overtly humorous items need very careful judgement in the context of a church magazine, as many editors have found to their cost! Some contemporary Christians will argue that the Christian church is perceived to be much more approachable by non-Christians when it can be seen to be able to laugh at itself, and such folk are very happy to see gentle fun poked at some of the more idiosyncratic aspects of organised worship (e.g., see: http://www.cartoonchurch.com ). Conversely, such humour (especially if directed towards the clergy) can be seen by others to be highly disrespectful. The editor needs to tread a very careful line here, and the benefits of seeking a consensus viewpoint within a small editorial team are obvious.

BUILDING A TEAM

YOUR PURPOSE?

FUNDING

PRINTING

DISTRIBUTION

WEBSITE TOO?

GENERATING COPY

Generating Good Copy

If your newsletter or magazine is going to attract and engage readers, it is vital to recognise that it will be competing with masses of other sources of information, both written (e.g., newspapers, magazines, local free-sheets, flyers, posters, junk mail) and audio-visual (e.g., commercial and BBC radio, terrestrial television, satellite TV, DVDs, film, the world wide web, etc., etc.).

We are living in the so-called “Information Age”, and attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, so do not assume that even your most natural audience (e.g., active church members) are automatically going to read your publication when they have so many other sources of information competing for their time and attention.

To win readers in the face of such competition, a church publication must satisfy at least two essential criteria:

1. That it is interesting and well written

2. That it looks good enough to suggest that its contents satisfy the first criterion

We discuss publication format and visual appeal in another section of this website. The following section offers some thoughts about generating good quality copy – i.e., finding or creating well written pieces that challenge, entertain and /or inform your readers.