We were live-blogging AR 2009. That is, we took notes during the conference and posted them online as soon as possible so that people who couldn’t attend could still learn and benefit from some conference presentations.

For details about the animal rights conference, please take a look at arconference.org.

These are notes from the presentation about “Effective Writing” or “Writing Our Message.”

Speaker 1 – Alex Hershaft, FARM

• Effective writing is writing that achieves its goal of advocacy.
• It’s difficult enough to get people to read at all so we ought to make sure that what they read makes a difference for animals.
• How to get them to read? Use graphics, use simple and short sentences, use a gimmick. Gimmick = something entirce them to read the first paragraph, then another something to entice them to read more
• Option 1: Appeal to feelings – the form is more important than content
  make yourself (the author) likeable to the target audience – similar gender, profession, be humble and funny, etc.
  appeal to reader’s desires and show them how your suggestions are valuable.
• Option 2: Appeal to beliefs – the content more important than form
  reliable, credible sources
  helpful to write about personal experience, adds to credibility
  use logic, authoritative tone, OK to use jargon

Speaker 2 – Karen Davis, UPC

• There is no substitute for practice, nothing makes you a better writer than actual WRITING (yes, I think this is true!)
• Save your old writings and review them later. Edit them and make things better. Learn from your mistakes.
• Use interesting language and historical references if possible
• Be ready to back up your claims even if there isn’t room in the particular piece that you’re writing. Do your research.
• In general, use short paragraphs to increase readability and focus.
• For letters to the editor stick to 250 words or less.
• Try to use your words to paint an image in the reader’s head.

Speaker 3 – Scott Smith, freelance journalist

• Writing is a learned skill, not a talent. Anyone can get better.
• There are lots of resources to learn to write better. take advantage of these resources = improve chances to get published and get message out
• If you can, “sleep on it.” Your subconscious will make it better. Be patient with yourself and your writing.
• Give the first draft to someone who will be honest. Aim for someone in your target audience.
• Think about the audience and their psychology. What do they need to hear in order to make a difference for animals?
• Stay focused – on and off web, people have short attention spans and they get confused by too many topics
• To get published in the papers, keep your articles short
• Methods of grabbing attention: news hook, startling statistic
• Use memorable phrases, watch transitions and make it flow
• Try to end with uplifting note or end by coming full circle and bring back to beginning
• To get published aim low at weeklies, small magazines, some blogs and websites… there is a hunger for material/ content
• Learn about advertising “copy” and try to mimmick their persuasive techniques.

Related presentation from another AR conference: Publishing on the Internet (websites, e-newsletters, blogging, streaming, RSS feeds, MySpace, YouTube) – Judah, Noard, Shoss.

Please note: These are not necessarily accurate representations of the speakers or AR2009. These are simply my notes.

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Sections: Vegan Activism, Vegan Resources
Topics: ar 2009, AR conference, blogging, FARM, Vegan, writing