No one ever contributes any articles for the branch newsletter - how can I fill it?
Are you a newsletter editor, struggling to fill your pages with new and exciting articles? Do you find that despite repeated requests, hardly anyone comes forward with contributions? If so, you are not alone - it is a common problem, experienced by all newsletter editors at one time or another. Here are some thoughts on addressing the problem.
People might not think they have anything of interest to contribute so it would help to ask them about something specific; for example, if one of your committee attended a training day or regional event recently you could ask them to write a report about it. If you ask people individually to write about something specific, you will probably get a much better response.
It might also encourage people to come forward if they didn't have to actually write the article themselves. You could, for example, offer to tape record their story and write it up later. Or you could interview them over the phone and put an article together from there.
It might also encourage people to come forward if they didn't have to actually write the article themselves. You could, for example, offer to tape record their story and write it up later. Or you could interview them over the phone and put an article together from there.
Take from other sources
It's very important that newsletters include information about MS, some of which you could take from the research pages of TeaMSpirit, and you could even write a paragraph afterwards explaining how it fits in to the local picture. You can get electronic copies of TeaMSpirit through the newsletter editors email list, meaning you can simply cut and paste. You can also pick up useful tips and advice from other newsletter editors.Remember to note where you copied from along with the date of the original article.
