Just Slightly Contrarian: This Ain't Literature You're Writing

Also, never make any edits or correct words or change anything at all until you have finished the entire letter. Just go as fast as you can. Yes, that’s tough sometimes when you have a lot of technical crap to use, but just fake it at first, and then come back and clean it up.

Here’s the bottom line: When a prospective donor gets your mailing package and does you the remarkable courtesy of pulling a letter out of the envelope, she might be talking over her shoulder to a bitching spouse or watching headline news out of the corner of her eye or worrying about the transmission in the SUV …