FamilyFed Writers' Guidelines

Welcome, Familyfed writers! The following guidelines will help you submit a complete piece for the Familyfed website. Please send your stories and photos to yahmetaj@unification.org, or fill out this form.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMPONENT OF A SUBMITTED PIECE

VOCABULARY

Jargon

How to Refer to True Parents

True Parents’ Matching

The Blessing

Korean Words

MAIN STYLE POINTS

PHOTO GUIDELINES

CULTURAL/LIFESTYLE PIECE

OPINION/THINK PIECE

UPCOMING EVENTS

Deliverable: final attached document

COMPONENTS OF A SUBMITTED PIECE

*Final submitted piece via email attached as a .doc or .docx. Word count for articles is 400, 640, or 800-word pieces, depending on the type of post (announcements are short, reports are of medium length and articles can be up to 800 words)

  • Title

  • Long pieces need subtitles, in bold

  • Body text

  • Photos

  • Captions

  • Contributor’s name (if any)

  • Calibri font, size 11, single spaced

  • No formatting: left aligned, no indent, one return-space between each paragraph

  • Suggested title (attention-grabbing, enticing, limit to 3-5 words long)

VOCABULARY

Knowing how to use Unificationist jargon will help normalize it. Here we provide the how-to for our cultural jargon.

Jargon

→  = “use instead of”

*Avoid using air quotes (“ “) around titles or unfamiliar terms as they convey doubt

  • Unification movement (lower case “m”)—emphasis on influence rather than organized structure

    • Unification movement is used to describe cultural happenings, events that are not directly Family Fed related, and used in the present tense

    • Use Unification Church when in reference to our movement’s past pre-1997

  • HQ → National Ministry Team at USA Headquarters

  • Unificationist(s) – NEVER “member”

  • “Heavenly Parent” – NOT “Heavenly Father” when referring to God as parent. Then “Him and Her,” “His and Her,” and “He and She”. Whenever possible, find a way to re-word so that it is not gender specific

  • Heavenly Parent is always singular. In the possessive, write: Heavenly Parent’s

  • Never say "True Parents lived/resided/dwelled” in reference to any church property

  • True Father ascended to the spirit world – NOT departed, died, passed away, etc. no reference to him as being dead or gone.

  • Other overused words: investment, foundation, success, victory, inspirational, testimony, mobilization

  • When referring to local churches in obscure cities, they should be called: “[city] Family Church in [state]”

  • Replace “mankind” with “humankind” IN ALL CASES

  • Tribal Messiahship, outreach to one’s personal tribe

  • Replace “conditions” with “devotional commitments"

  • "Message" NOT "speech"

  • Avoid redundancy, ex: "In the United States, the American National Church" → "The American Church..."

  • Avoid using oxymorons

  • Take out commands, ex: "had been asked to accept the position" → "had been recommended to take the position"

  • dplife.info vs. DPLife website

How to Refer to True Parents

  • How and When to use True Parents vs. Official Title

    • When referring for the first time, “Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, affectionately known as True Parents…”

    • When referring to both True Father and True Mother in an official capacity as a couple, “Rev. and Dr. Sun Myung Moon” (Father came as a spiritual leader, hence: Reverend. Mother has a unique worldview compared to the rest of the world currently, with Father in spirit world, hence, we will call her Dr.)

    • True Parents is always plural. In the possessive, write: True Parents’

  • When referring to True Mother alone:

    • When referring for the first time, “Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon/affectionately known as True Mother/Mother of Peace…” (depending on context/quote)

    • If True Mother is the keynote speaker and referred to in text only without a photo, always list her first before other speakers or entertainers

  • When referring to True Father alone:

    • When referring for the first time, “Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon/affectionately known as True Father/Father of Peace…” (depending on context/quote)

  • Other true family use guidelines:

    • True Parents' grandchildren/True Parents' children (lower case "g" and lower case "c")

    • When addressing True Children, use "Moon" instead of "Nim." (ex. Hyo Jin Moon NOT Hyo Jin Nim)

  • When using position/title, ex. “‘Quote here,’ said President Rev. Demian Dunkley of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), USA.” ex. “Rev. Demian Dunkley, President of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), USA, visited the White House…”

  • Dae Mo nim (lowercase nim) - True Mother's mother

  • Two doctors: Dr. Angel Espinoza, Dr. Marguerite Espinoza or . Drs. Angel and Marguerite Espinoza

  • For two reverends: The reverends Mary and John Smith (The wife’s name always comes first. This is from the Emily Post website, the ultimate in proper etiquette)

True Parents’ Matching:

  • John and Jane Smith participated in a matching and engagement ceremony presided over by Reverend and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, called the “Matching.”

  • Afterwards, refer to it as the Matching: He went to the Matching in 1982.

  • Sample for non True Parents’ matching: John and Jane participated in the matching and engagement process with their parents.

The Blessing

  • First time: The Marriage Blessing Ceremony

  • Afterwards: the Blessing Ceremony (John participated in the Blessing Ceremony in 1982.)

  • “... We gave the Blessing to 430 couples ... “ → “ … We conducted the Marriage Rededication Blessing Ceremony for 430 couples …. ” NEVER SAY “fulfilled their 430…”

  • NEVER say “mass weddings”

  • Refer to True Parents’ wedding as True Parents’ Holy Wedding

  • Refer to blessed families/blessed central families as “Unificationist families”

  • cross-cultural Marriage Blessing (intercultural Marriage Blessing)

  • Blessing vows

  • to be Blessed

  • NEVER say “blessed child,” instead say “Unificationist youth” as often as possible, add age whenever possible

    • use “first-generation Unificationist”

  • … full name received the Marriage Blessing with full name …

Korean Words

*Use the Korean in italics followed by the English translation in parentheses. Use what you see in bold, AS it is shown. If it’s not italicized, DO NOT italicize it yourself.

  • Ahn Shi Il (Unification Church Sabbath)

  • Aju

  • Chambumo Gyeong

  • Chanyang (devotional singing and clapping)

  • Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center

  • Cheon Bok Gung (Unification Peace Temple)

  • Cheon Gi – Heavenly Calendar (began 2010)

  • Cheon Il Guk (God’s Kingdom of Eternal Peace)

  • Cheon Jeong Gung (The Peace Museum) – Never refer to it as “Peace Palace”

  • Cheon Ji Sunhak – Heaven and Earth

  • Cheon Seong Gyeong

  • chukseunghwe (축승회) – victory celebration

  • Eog Mansei (10,000 years) - literal meaning. no need to put that in parenthesis when writing a post

  • Family Pledge (core pledge of Unificationists)

  • Heungnam Prison

  • Hoon Dok Hwe (daily study of scripture)

  • Hyojeong: heart of filial piety

  • Il Shim Ceremony (the Unificationist rite of passage for entering adolescence)

  • Jeongseong (devotional offering)

  • “Mujogeon (Unconditionally)” – name of Korean song that young Unificationists often perform for True Mother

  • Pyeong Hwa Gyeong

  • Segye Ilbo (also known as Segye Times)

  • Seonghwa (Ascension Ceremony)

  • Seonghwa students

  • shimjeong

  • Sung Hwa Publishing

  • Wonjeon Ceremony (interment ceremony)

*If you need clarity on capitalization and hyphenation, please see Grammar Practices.

MAIN STYLE POINTS

  • Voice: Descriptive report with lively narrative.

  • When referring to individuals, use first name after initial introduction (John Smith lives in New York…John has three sons.) When referring to more than one member of the same family use first names after initial introduction.

  • When referring to individuals with titles, use title and last name after initial introduction (Dr. John Smith lives in New York…Dr. Smith has three sons.)

  • When abbreviations first appear in an article, spell out the actual title and place abbreviation in parentheses – Generation Peace Academy (GPA) – afterwards, use only abbreviation.

  • Italicize title for books, TV shows, films, CDs, magazines, newspapers, journals, album titles (Do not italicize the Bible, the Quran; italicize Divine Principle)

  • quotation marks for speech titles

*Knowing when to use quotes, italics, or underlining can be difficult. Writer’s Relief proofreaders can help you proofread your creative writing submissions to be sure your titles are properly formatted.

PHOTO GUIDELINES

If you are submitting a piece, you must also submit photos. DO NOT EMBED PHOTOS IN A WORD DOCUMENT. Please send them separately.

Photos should be high quality, with good composition, angling and lighting. Submit original photos (highest resolution possible), unedited.

  • Size: minimum size 5mb, 10×10

    1. Type: jpeg, RAW file

    2. Send: dropbox if very large. share dropbox link with yahmetaj@unification.org

    3. Send: email if under 25mb.

    4. Captions for all images (from left to right: names divided by commas. If the people have positions: Name, Position; Name, Position; etc.) place, event, city and state, date

For more photo guidelines, click here.  

How to Write a Proper:

CULTURAL/LIFESTYLE PIECE

  • Deliverable: an engaging story that captures a unique or interesting person/activity/hobby/project that also ties into Unificationist values and/or the movement itself

    • Final submitted piece via Google doc should have the following:

      • Word count: 500-700, unless otherwise directed

      • Font: Calibri, size 11

      • No formatting: left aligned, no indent, one return-space between each paragraph, bold subheadings

      • Suggested title and subtitle

      • Your name under the title

  • Structure

    • Post titles should be brief and catchy, like newspaper & magazine headlines. When in doubt or can’t get creative, use honest, to-the-point titles. Capitalize words. The title of the blog should be the most likely search phrase.

    • Intro text – One or two paragraphs of 1 – 3 sentences.

    • Subheading – A few words or short sentence, caps are good but optional.

    • 1 to 3 paragraph(s) per section. Try not to use more than 3 sentences per paragraph. If this section needs more info, try using a list or a quote, or include a picture to break up text. Text on the web needs to be broken up for quick readability. The first 2 sections need to be catchy and entice the reader to scroll down and keep reading. Avoid redundancy.

    • Next subheading.

    • 1 to 4 short paragraphs. Can include an ending.

    • Optional: Concluding subheading – maybe a call to action, or summary.

    • Concluding paragraph(s).

    • 2-4 sentences per list point. Subheadings wherever possible.

    • Note: when linking, link to a few key words, not an entire sentence.

  • Tone: Fun, light, catchy, amusing/entertaining, upbeat, simple, to the point, if a reflective article keep it positive.

    • Titles should be attention-grabbing, enticing. Consider formatting as a question.

    • Subheadings should be succinct.

    • Casual, youth-focused language – avoid technical or advanced vocabulary.

    • Inclusive verbage, yet remain unique to Unification culture

    • Instead of the word “beliefs,” we can say, “teachings,” “way of thinking,” “point of view,” “worldview” or “lifestyle.”

    • Instead of the word “faith,” we can express it as “living the lifestyle that embodies the teachings of the Divine Principle.” Or simply, “principles.”

  • Begin by seeing where Unification Thought/Divine Principle/True Father/True Mother stands on the topic.

  • Based on the topic, find supporting materials from the world at large, such as stats, pop culture, other sites with professional material, books, etc. NEVER use the phrase: “Statistics show…”  instead, write the stat, source, and hyperlink to the reference site.

  • Remember who the intended audience is for the piece— Is it relevant to those outside of the Unification movement or who might be coming to the site for the first time? Why do they need to know about the topic or perspective your are writing about?

OPINION/THINK PIECE

  • Tone: Personal, humble, seeking depth and understanding, sharing experiences as if writing in a journal, supported by research.

  • Don't be afraid to make controversial statements as long as they are what you believe and you can attribute them to solid analysis.

  • Be bold, yet be aware of and acknowledge counter-perspectives to your argument.

  • Keep it concise and focused; don't draw on indirectly related points.

  • Develop a solid and valid message.

  • Style: Make it creative and captivating; don’t deliver a monotonous text but vary sentence style/length, use rich word choice and put some artistic flair into it. Present a comprehensive evaluation of a topic, opening the space for the reader to begin thinking on this as they move on to other supporting pieces. The reader should feel, though you are talking to a large audience on a broad topic, that you are simplifying it down to a digestible form and delivering the full view of the issue. Use a variety of sources, quotes, examples, supports, and concrete details.

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Title – event name

  • What & So what (Why should people attend this event? What is the gain?)

  • Where (city and venue); when

  • Price

  • Contact information

  • Registration link or form

editorialManish Saluja