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PA Writing 101
TSgt Samuel Morse
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Overview
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Planning communication
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Communication outlets
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Structuring your story
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Why do I care?
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AP Style Book Introduction
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Practical Exercise
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Planning communication
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What are we wanting to communicate?
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Who is our target audience?
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What’s the best way to reach them?
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What do we want them to do after reading the
communication?
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How can we gauge our effectiveness?
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Communication Options
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FW-All Email
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Facebook
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GunfighterSnow
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First Sergeants
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Website
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Website – News Story
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Short and direct
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“Press Release” style, inverted pyramid
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Emphasis on facts
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Unbiased
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No reference to writer or reader
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Lead/Bridge uses a who, what, when, where format.
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Headline is usually dry, contains a verb.
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Sometimes includes a “for more information, contact…” final
paragraph.
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Website – Feature
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Longer, more emotion-driven
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Focus on the “why” rather than the “what.”
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Opinions still require attribution
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Still no references to the reader or writer
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Lead/bridge acts like a hook, takes many forms.
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Website – Commentary
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Opinion piece (Op-Ed)
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Approach like a thesis paper. Attributed facts are better than
speculation or opinion.
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Reference to the reader or writer okay, but usually only in the
lead or conclusion.
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Heavy focus on the “why.”
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Lead/bridge often poses a problem or paints a picture.
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Structuring your story
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SAPP – Security, Accuracy, Policy, Propriety
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Emphasize clarity and brevity.
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Front-load important information.
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By the third paragraph, the reader should know what the story is
about, and the rest of the story should support it.
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When the voice or topic changes, make a new paragraph (oneor two-sentence paragraphs are okay).
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Use quotes to give context and state opinions. Not necessary for
straight facts unless those facts are statistics. Strongest quotes
are usually in the third and final paragraphs.
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Stories generally use past tense but closing paragraph or quote
often looks forward in features/commentaries.
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Why do I care?
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Most important consideration.
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Front-load this info.
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If you don’t know, the readers won’t know, and will skip your
story.
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Use a compelling photo to add weight to your story.
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Headline, lead, bridge and lead photo should all contribute
to this question.
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AP Style Introduction
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AFI 35-101 requires us to use the Associated Press Style Book for
publication.
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Write to an 8th Grade reading level.
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Refer to Mountain Home AFB Style Book for common mistakes
(no Oxford Comma, different date/time/rank/state
abbreviations, etc.)
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For quotes, place attribution at first logical break (after a
dependent or independent clause). Re-open quotes after the
attribution if necessary.
example: “This training is great,” said Senior Airman John Snuffy,
366th Medical Support Squadron medical technician. “I’ve
learned a lot about how the public affairs office produces stories.
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AP Style Introduction – Con’t
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First versus second reference:
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Dates: don’t use year if same as the dateline
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Location: “here” acceptable when same as dateline
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People: Full rank, unit, title in first ref; last name only in second
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In general, spell-out on first reference, abbreviate on second.
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Refer to AP stylebook for additional references
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Exercise – Pharmacy Call-Ins
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Leadership asked you to write a story about how the pharmacy
now requires mandatory call-ins for refills.
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Who: Directed by AFMS, enacted by the Pharmacy
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What: mandatory call-ins for refills. Call-ins by 1500 ready next
duty day at 0900. Call-ins after 1500 ready after second duty day
at 0900.
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When: effective 8 Dec 2015
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Where: MHAFB
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Why: convenient for customers, 30% reduced manpower for
pharmacy (source: 2014 AF-wide manpower study)
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Quote: “We’re excited to offer this new capability to our
customers,” said Maj. Quentin Snuffers, 366th Medical Support
Squadron pharmacy flight chief. “It helps our airmen focus on
fulfilling customer requests while offering convenience in
return.”