And some of the guidelines, frankly, are for the benefit of those of us on the editorial page -- to make it easier for us to handle your contributions and do them justice.
(And notice that the word is "guidelines" rather than "rules." A good writer knows when to break the guidelines to be effective. But if you do, be sure.)
1. The most important parts of an opinion piece are the opening sentence or paragraph and the closing sentence or paragraph.
State the point you want to make (the thesis you intend to prove or the argument you intend to demonstrate) as soon as you can and as directly as you can. Don't back into it with lengthy introductory remarks. Remember logic -- premises followed by a conclusion? But when you write it, it's better to put your conclusion first, then the premises that led you to the conclusion.
Then, when you think you've made the case, come back to your opening statement in your close, referring to it in a slightly different way. This gives you repetition, to make your point stick in the reader's mind, and circularity (a piece that begins and ends with the same thought, mood or tone), the most elegant touch you can give your writing.
2. Remember that you're constructing a chain of logic.
Many people comfortable with other types of writing get bogged down when they try to do an opinion piece because they think they have to keep accumulating piles of facts to make their cases. But you're trying to convince the reader that it is logical to move from point A to point B to point C and that, by doing this, conclusion D is warranted. If you stop to give 10 examples or batches of statistics to back up every point, the reader is going to get lost or give up on you. When facts or statistics seem warranted to bolster an assertion, one or two good ones will do.
3. Keep it short.
The longer your piece is, the harder you will have to work at keeping the reader's attention. Don't forget, you're not trying to write a whole new book -- just jumping in and out of an ongoing conversation. And "short" is more effective in many ways: Shorter words are better than longer words, short sentences are better than long ones. Short paragraphs are better.
4. Vary your sentence structure.
Perhaps the easiest thing you can do to make good writing better. Although "short' is better, too many short sentences will make your piece dull and repititious and give your writing a choppy feel. Too many long, complicated sentences, on the other hand, will make your piece dense and difficult to read. Each writer finds a suitable rhythm: three long sentences, followed by a short. Three shorts and a long. Two of each, then one of each. Find whatever suits your writing personality.
Keep it short. Be concise. Don't get fancy. But then, just to keep it interesting, throw in something that's a little different.
See? Easy.
5. Keep it simple.
One idea per piece. It is difficult enough to prove one argument, let alone several, in one letter. If you want to make the case that the mayor is too fond of taxes, don't throw in the poor condition of the streets, the governor's stand on spending and the general state of the national economy. It's too much.
And you don't have to prove the whole of a complex argument in one letter -- abortion is right or wrong, we need a health plan, GATT will lead to our ruin. These are divisive arguments that have been around a long time and have a history. Be aware of where the argument stands, what has been said back and forth lately. Choose the piece of the argument you want to clarify or expand on. Don't say the same things everyone else has been saying. Say something new, or make a point that's been made before but do it in a new way.
Opinion pieces should add to the conversation, inspire a response, keep the argument going -- and always at a higher and more rational level. And that requires paying attention.
6. Write about issues, not people.
The mission of an opinion piece is to convince readers that some course of action is right or wrong. It might be satisfying to bash the people who are responsible for the action, but it is self-defeating after a point. It is fine to say, "Newt Gingrich is wrong about cutting off PBS funds, and here's why." It detracts from your point, and will give you the reputation of being a scold, to say, "Mr. Gingrich is wrong on PBS, but what do you expect from such a nitwit?" (Quote from an actual Indianapolis newspaper.)
Naturally, sometimes the person is the issue. When that is the case, it is fair to attack the person. It would seem overly sensitive to go on about the atrocities in Cambodia of a few years ago without saying a negative word or two about Pol Pot.
But if you have stuck to the issues most of the time, your rare ventures into the personal will be that much more effective.
7. Keep an "I" out.
Don't overuse statements of personal feelings or beliefs. "I think," "I believe," and so on. Some writers think such statements strengthen their arguments, but they really weaken them. The statement "Children show no respect today" is a lot stronger than "It seems to me that children are more disrespectful today." If you present a good argument, saying what you think is unnecessary. If you make a bad one, saying it won't save the day.
8. Use quotes sparingly.
It isn't an effective opinion piece to write one or two sentences of personal belief, then say "and Abraham Lincoln thought so, too," followed by four paragraphs of Lincoln quotes. Use quotes from other people to bolster the case, not make it. If you're using several quotes, try to vary the way you use them to make them more accessible. There are four main variations. The direct quote: "I think it's going to rain today," Mr. Newman said. The partial quote: Mr. Newman said he thought it was "going to rain today." The indirect quote: Mr. Newman said it was going to rain today. The paraphrase: Mr. Newman predicted rain.
9. Let the content dictate style, tone and mood.
There is no one correct "design" for opinion pieces. They can be very formal or very loose, very serious or very flip. A lot depends on what you're comfortable with and what your subject matter calls for. A piece on the shortcomings of the new school budget should probably be fairly structured and straightforward. A piece on the landfill or stray animals can stand a little emotional venting. Something on the screwy new traffic patterns could use a little humor.
A word of caution on humor, especially when you stray into irony or sarcasm: Careful! Some readers will read you literally and think you're saying the opposite of what you really are.
10. Think in terms of the paragraph.
The paragraph is the basic building block of your piece. The easiest way to make your essay flow logically from one idea to the next is to make each paragraph flow easily to the next, one idea per paragraph.
Paragraphs are just like sentences: Short ones are better, but variety is a must. Vary your paragraphs -- short, medium, long -- in a pattern you're comfortable with. Also vary the kind of paragraph you use to give your piece interest and spice. Some paragraphs should be self-contained, understandable if nothing but it is read. But some should be connected to preceding paragraphs with so-called "linking words" to let the reader know there is some continutity to this thing. "Linked" paragraphs begin with words or phrases such as "However," "On the other hand," "Furthermore" or "Despite that" to indicate you're referring back to the preceding paragraph.
11. Use the active voice instead of the passive.
The active voice, Strunk & White remind us, "is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive. I shall always remember my first visit to Boston is much better than My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me. Instead of There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground, write Dead leaves covered the ground. Instead of It was not long before he was very sorry that he said what he had said, write He soon repented his words."
12. Be specific.
Nothing can kill a piece of writing faster than vagueness. Don't use generalizations such as "People in government just don't listen to us" if what you mean is "The councilman never returned my phone call." Zero in on your specific observation, and simply and directly convey the details -- concrete, graspable details, not abstractions. Don't write about "deteriorating infrastructure"; tell us the intersections where the potholes are. Don't lament "the decline of moral values in the mass culture"; tell us why "Inside Edition" is an abomination. As an exercise in being specific, try writing a few paragraphs with a great many nouns and verbs and very few adjectives and adverbs. Then read your piece and notice how crisp and vigorous it is. One of the greatest sentences in literature did not go on and on about how Our Savior was wallowing in the depths of despair and was feeling burdened with the weight of the world and wondered what to do about it and decided he should just be emotional and go with it. It said, simply, "Jesus wept."
13. Firm up that flabby writing.
Ernest Hemingway was famous for ruthlessly editing his short stories. No story had any unnecessary paragraphs. No paragraph had any unnecessary sentences. No sentence had any unnecessary words. Lord knows, most of us who frequent the editorial page are no Hemingways, but we could do a lot better at paring our writing.
When you're done with your piece, read it through with an eye to brevity. Long prepositional phrases can be trimmed or eliminated. Be on the alert for certain phrases: "of the" almost always indicates a trim -- "day's end" rather than "end of the day"; 95 percent of the "thats" in a piece could probably be eliminated -- "John's car" instead of "the car that John drove." But almost any sentence can benefit from tightening. The first sentence in this paragraph, for example, can be trimmed to "When you've finished your piece, edit it for brevity."
14. Use parallel construction.
Or, as Strunk & White put it, "Express coordinate ideas in similar form." They give as an example of parallel construction the familiar Beatitudes from the Bible:
Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Unskilled writers often violate this principle in the mistaken belief that a variety of expression is always best. But paralllel construction shows that the writer is certain, clear of mind. The lack of it can signal indecision, imprecision. If you write "In spring, summer or in winter," a lack of planning is conveyed. How much more precise to write "In spring, summer or winter" or "In spring, in summer or in winter."
The absence of parallel construction is most painfully obvious when you write a main clause followed by several subordinate clauses preceded by bullets or numbers. As in:
The police chief listed four reasons for the increase in crime:
1. A lack of morals.
2. Things just aren't the way they used to be.
3. "I just don't have enough of a budget."
4. What do you expect from kids today?
In that list, there is a sentence fragment, a complete sentence, a quote and a question. Pick one of them and use that form for all four.
15. Keep related words together.
What would you think if somebody said this to you: "Let's plan to get together to talk by the phone at noon in the bus station"? Are you agreeing to phone someone to talk about meeting them? Or planning to meet them at the phone in the bus station? What if the sentence read: "Let's get together by the phone and plan to talk at noon in the bus station"? It matters where you put words in a sentence.
Be especially careful to keep modifiers close to the word or phrase they modify. "He was scared by a lion in the kitchen that was huge" is a little less clear than "He was scared by a lion that was huge in the kitchen." Only a handful of us are afraid of big kitchens.
16. Place the emphatic words of the sentence at the end.
This just means that whatever is at the end of the sentence is the most prominent. Strunk & White give this example:
This steel is principally used for making razors, because of its hardness.
Because of its hardness, this steel is used principally for making razors.
In the first example, the hardness of the steel gets the emphasis (will be given more attention by the reader). In the second, the razor is given more prominence. Or, consider this one:
In a record-setting year for homicides, Fort Wayne in 1994 saw more than 50 people murdered.
More than 50 people were murdered in Fort Wayne in 1994, a record year for homicides.
In the first example, what will linger in readers' minds will be the number of people murdered; in the second, the fact that a record was set.
17. Avoid the use of qualifiers.
Consider this an extension of the "Use lots of nouns and verbs and few adjectives and adverbs" advice. White: "Rather, very, little, pretty -- these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating. We should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful, for it is a rather important rule and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then."
18. Just let it be said.
As has been said before, don't desperately search for variety when simplicity is called for. Nowhere does the desperation of a panicky writer manifest itself more than in the scramble to find substitues for "said": He or she whispered or implored or shouted or snickered or vowed or disclosed or pronounced or muttered or enunciated or declared or vented or claimed or asserted or alleged or ... 999 times out of a thousand, plain old "said" will do. That means that on the one time out of a thousand -- "I'll see you in Hell," Limbaugh snarled -- your departure from the norm will be memorable.
19. Be clear.
If you're in the middle of a sentence that has become hopelessly convoluted, stop and reconsider: Break it up into two sentences. If you're trying to decide whether you should have "who" or "whom" in that beginning clause, rewrite it so that the choice isn't even an issue. The point isn't to write something you can defend before a panel of grammarians, but to write something your readers can easily grasp.
(And by the way: If you're halfway through your composition and still struggling, still not clear about what you're trying to say and how you want to do it -- go back to your first sentence. Your lead isn't right. Get that nailed, and the rest will flow. If you are going to make it clear to your reader, make it clear to yourself first.)
20. Don't overuse figures of speech.
Writing can be made stronger by sprinkling it with a few figures of speech: the metaphor or simile, alliteration, personification, hyperbole (exaggeration for effect), litotes (understatement for effect), analogy. But, as Strunk & White point out, overuse can detract from the straightforward presentation of your case: "The simile is a common device and a useful one, but similies coming in rapid fire, one right on top of another, are more distracting than illuminating. Readers need time to catch their breath; they can't be expected to compare everything with some Directly from Strunk & thing else, and no relief in sight. When you use a metaphor, do not mix it up. That is, don't start by calling something a swordfish and end up calling it an hourglass."
(But here, again, we must remind that we're talking about "guidelines" rather than "rules." One of the most famous Mixed Metaphors in history is Shakespeare's "To take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them." One metaphor: a sea of troubles. Another: to take arms against. How do those two relate? Not so well? Fine. Let's keep Shakespeare off our editorial pages. THAT should certainly improve the quality of discourse.)
21. Don't take shortcuts.
Don't use initials for the names of organizations or movements unless your are certain the initials will be easily understood by our readers. Write things out. Not everyone knows that NAFTA means North American Free Trade Agreement or that GATT means General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. A good guideline is to start your piece by writing names out in full, and then, later, when the readers have their bearings, to shorten them.
22. Don't be afraid to use reference works.
An opinion writer should make use of the standard writer's tools of dictionary and thesaurus. But many other types of books will also help: an atlas, an almanac and a set of encyclopedias to nail down the historical facts. A current anthology to trace more recent information. "Facts on File," available at the library, is a good one. The Readers Guide to Periodical Literature at the same place is indispensable. Use a quote book such as Bartlett's to get some support for your aguments. The basic point: If you ain't researching, you shouldn't be writing.
23. Type it, type it, type it.
Double-spaced if possible. And if you can't type it, and your handwriting is hard to read, at least print it. The easier it is to read your submission, the more likely it is that it will be used and the less likely that it will be mangled in print.
24. Be sure to take the first and last steps.
Something even the most experienced of writers should do, but too often don't, is to take two pauses -- one right before beginning to write, and the other upon completion of the writing.
The first pause is to think about how you want to start your piece. Ask yourself some questions: What do I want to say, what do I want to emphasize most? One helpful exercise is to imagine that you are going to talk to a friend, tell that friend the same thing you want to write. What would you say right off in telling this friend about your opinion? There's your first sentence. When we're talking to people, we instinctively edit out the superfluous details, get right to the heart of the matter. When we write, we tend to make it harder than it should be -- get distracted by the minute details we would never bore a listener with.
The second pause is to take that one last read. No matter how well we think we did, there's always a chance we've missed something: a slightly awkward sentence, a misplaced word or the wrong word, a misspelling. Take that one extra step -- your writing will improve, and you'll be a step ahead of most other writers.
To quote Strunk & White again: "Revising is part of writing. Quite often the writer will discover, on examining the completed work, that there are serious flaws in the arrangement of materials. Sometimes the work will merely need shortening. Always make that last read."
25. Choose your issue well.
Don't write about just anything. The more "public" an issue is (the more it's been written and talked about) the more interest there will be in it. The more people it affects, the more people will read it. Try to avoid strictly personal gripes.
Do you just want to vent, get something off your chest, rail against the powers that be or the way things have always been? Or do you want to contribute your piece of wisdom to the ongoing debate on the issues of the day?
