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Image: Cynthia wearing a hat and holding
up a newspaper open to her op-ed. |
I’ve dragged my feet writing this particular “Advocacy Made Easy” blog because there is nothing easy to me about writing an op-ed. Yikes! That’s a big admission from a writer known for breaking down advocacy actions into easy steps anyone can do. This kind of advocacy writing takes more effort, but when you get one published, it’s worth it!I’ve had 11 op-eds published in my 17 years as an activist. Not too shabby, but small compared to the 120 or more letters to the editor of mine published in the same timeframe. Why? First, op-eds take more time and care to write. I only spend about 20 minutes writing a letter to the editor and a few hours on a blog post, but it takes me several days to finish an op-ed. Second, newspapers don’t have as much room for them. They might post several letters to the editor with every edition, but only publish an op-ed from a reader once in a while.
It takes more effort to craft an op-ed because of the greater length and creativity involved in holding a reader’s interest to the end. I also take much more time to research relevant statistics and fact-check my wording since op-eds come under more scrutiny than letters to the editor.
What is an op-ed?
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Image: A newspaper with Cynthia's op-ed
called "Measles: Not just a metaphor
for personal choice. It has a picture
of Cynthia and three Ugandan kids |
An op-ed is an opinion piece between 500-700 words that’s not written by the newspaper’s editorial staff. Publishing an op-ed is a good way to control the narrative of your issue and build empathy for your cause.They are often written by industry experts, members of Congress, or other prominent individuals. But anyone can submit an op-ed! As long as an editor considers a piece well-written and of interest to readers, they may accept it from an average member of the community. Here are my best tips to boost your chances of an op-ed being published…
Grab attention with a compelling hook
Use a creative idea, or “hook,” in the first paragraph to engage an editor’s interest. Simply referencing a past article that ran in the paper isn’t enough. Op-ed hooks tend to be clever, poignant, or very current. It doesn’t need to be an inflammatory hot take, but it helps to have a twist on a common way of thinking.
Here are some examples of hooks I’ve used:
Use EPIC format
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Image: Cynthia pointing to a powerpoint
slide explaining EPIC format |
When I don’t know where to start my op-ed, I use the easy-to-remember “EPIC” format. “EPIC” is a handy mnemonic for remembering an order to build your case for an action and engage your reader.Engage: Grab the reader’s attention with a question or a startling statement. You could use a surprising statistic or a question.
Problem: State the problem that you want the reader to address.
Inform (or Illustrate): Inform the reader of the solution or illustrate how the solution can help.
Call to Action: CLEARLY state what you want the reader to do. It’s best if you can do it in the form of a question that should be answered with a “yes” or a “no."
Unlike a letter to the editor, you'll need more than one or two sentences for each section. The Problem and Inform sections will be the most robust, containing a few paragraphs. You might even offer more than one examples of the problem or more than one solution!
Be personal and original
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Image: Cynthia's op-ed about foreign aid with pictures
of her with four children at a health clinic in Uganda
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With the longer word count of an op-ed, you can take the space to develop your personal connection to your issue. Unique and original work are what editors are seeking. A reader should be able see why you are the right person to be writing the op-ed. It could be because of your lived experience with the issue or your perspective from a role you hold in the community (teacher, mother, doctor, food bank volunteer, crossing guard, etc).
It’s important that your op-ed is original. Never copy and paste writing from another author and submit it as your own without consent. This happened to me by a well-meaning fellow advocate who mistook my writing for a template from an advocacy organization. As a professional content creator, it was crushing to see my words published under someone else’s name. Even if you use a sample template from an organization, don’t submit it word for word. Add your own turns of phrases and personal details. Some papers care about originality so much that they’ll ask you if you already submitted the piece elsewhere and may decline if it’s not exclusive to them.
Be cautious using AI writers. Artificial intelligence (AI) can generate an op-ed instantly, but it can’t capture your own personal experiences in life. AI generated pieces look rather bland compared to writing from someone passionate about an issue. Also, AI writers are only as good as the information they learn from. If AI learns from misinformation or disinformation on the web, your piece may reflect that and you'll bear the responsibility for spreading falsehoods in the media.
If you absolutely insist on using AI as a place to start a draft, take the effort to put yourself in the piece to make it more appealing. My college kid who works on campus helping other students with writing assignments tells me the writing lab tutors can spot an AI piece a mile away and "it's usually laughably bad." Don't put yourself in the position of being judged poorly by college students.
Don’t give up if you’re rejected
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Image: Jane's byline for her op-ed titled "Saving USAID is
both a humanitarian and economic imperative"
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What if you spend all that time and effort on creating a masterpiece and it gets rejected? Sometimes they’ll pass on it and when they do, just submit it right away to another paper. If you don’t hear from an editor, send them an email with the subject line “Wanted to make sure you saw this piece about ____.” This happened to my friend Jane last month, and the editor just missed it and the paper had not run op-eds for a bit while they experienced technical difficulties. He printed it soon after her reminder. If you still don’t hear anything in a week or two with a message like “We like it, but are waiting to find a day to run it,” then send them an email saying you’re withdrawing your piece and will submit elsewhere. That way, you formally told them and can tell the next paper that this is still a fresh opinion piece not printed anywhere else.
If it never gets published, it might a good blog post. I originally started this blog as a place for my misfit letters to the editor and op-eds to be published. Years later, I turned the blog into a book! Who knows what can happen to your writing?
Have you ever had an op-ed published?
What are your favorite tips or tricks for getting published?
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| Image: Book Cover |
Buy an autographed copy of “From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started” at my website www.changyit.com or order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any independent bookstore!
