Public Relations Writing: Lesson Two

By now you should have turned in your first press release on "From the Heart," as well as a slew of other things I asked you for. If you have not yet turned everything in, you'll be hearing from us -- we want to make sure you don't fall behind in this class.

Today we're going to concentate on how to plan your writing to make it easier. The first order of business is how to coordinate the three main elements of a press release lead:

Pay close attention to your introduction to these three elements. You will save yourself a lot of trouble later, if you take the time to get this right during Lesson Two.

Meanwhile, we'll be looking over your first press release, to get some idea of where you're coming from. Don't worry, these press releases will not be given a grade.

We learned a good deal from your Lesson One assignments. We can tell, from the letters you posted (letter to "Mom," and letter to "Faculty") that you can write. More importantly, you can see for yourself, that you are able to intuitively organize the main facts of the story and tell it without much effort. So now you should be able to go to the next level, and master the complex craft of PR writing.

The craft begins with pre-writing. We'll get started with the Message Planner.

One last time: If you are feeling "hopelessly behind," or if you are afraid you won't be able to keep up the pace (10-12 hours a week), now is the time to withdraw from the class -- while you can still get a refund, without damage to your GPA.

If necessary, complete Lesson One before you continue on Lesson Two.