Know the rules
Know before you begin your letter or op-ed commentary, how many words are allowed and how often you are allowed to write letters to the editor and op-ed commentary pieces. For example, here in Fort Collins, Colorado, in the Fort Collins Coloradoan, we are allowed one 250 word letter to the editor every 30 days and a 600-word "Soapbox" or op-ed commentary every 60 days. The two can run nearly simultaneously. In sister city Loveland, at the Loveland Reporter Herald, we are allowed two 500-word letters every 30 days. They are both small newspapers. On the other hand, it is much more difficult to get a 250-word letter published or an op-ed piece in either the Denver Post or the Rocky Mountain News. They serve the whole state and don't print many letters that move in the same direction as their political leaning or their editorial board. I continue to submit letters on occasion there but reserve my writing for the smaller newspapers around the state and the states political newspaper, The Colorado Statesman.
 Start with the facts
It is always good to begin by getting your points with evidence, quotes, and statistics on paper, sprinkling in the ATTITUDE as it is warranted or feels like it belongs.
Does your letter flow?
Next, check your organization - does it flow logically or chronologically, or along the lines of a letter you are responding to? Do your transitions from paragraph to paragraph or subject to subject flow smoothly and use the least amount of words as possible?
Check word count
Next, it's time to check in with the word count. Don't be discouraged - even letters 100-200 over the allowed limit can be whittled down.
 Begin with the easiest - making contractions i.e., I'm for I am or doesn't for does not.
Then look for places you can use commas and remove ands or places in which you can remove or restructure lengthy or run on sentences. Try to be more succinct, to the point with the sentence.

***Remember: These letters, because of the attention one must pay to a strict limit on words, will not always sound like we would speak it or flow as nicely as we might want it to. Sometimes it sounds abrupt and may not necessarily be entirely grammatically correct.
Eliminate unnecessary information
Next comes the hardest part. Removal of entire sentences or paragraphs that upon second thought may not be central to the theme or themes of the letter. Sometimes these sentences or paragraphs really do repeat a point already made or express a feeling in too many words when less words would work without distracting from the meaning or thought you want to get across to your reading audience. This is where you must be prepared to leave some words, sentences, or even paragraphs on the cutting room floor.
Does your letter still flow?
Remember, once you have reached this point in your letter composition, you may have to revisit the organization and transitioning points of your letter to be sure that after all the above changes were made, that part still flows smoothly.

**Also remember: This process may or may not be accomplished in one setting or even one day. Often I spend several hours over one or more days, researching, composing, and then editing a letter or op-ed commentary. It is also very rare that my final edited version is even one word shy of the maximum allowed.

I have been writing letters to the editor for years now and if done often enough, this process becomes second nature. I can read an antiabortion letter or a response to one of my letters and my brain begins immediately to churn out some thoughts for the response I know I will be composing.
Be prepared for the onslaught of attacks
One last piece of advice, but it is the most important. If you are going to write even one letter, you must be prepared, before hand, for the onslaught of attacks on both you personally and your stated positions by antiabortion extremists.
Antiabortion extremists will deliberately misrepresent, distort, and lie. Your motives, beliefs, and facts will be attacked, lied about and distorted. But don't be discouraged. Take the time to research and put your facts in order and you can always meet those attacks head on and crush them. You will see what I mean when you read the letters we have done.
Also, you may find yourself, after such attacks appear, perhaps several over several days, questioning your self-confidence or command of the facts.