What’s the thing you’re most irritated by right now?
I ask the question the day before America’s Thanksgiving holiday for a reason. Many of us will be spending time with extended family over the period. And there’s nothing like sitting next to people whose opinions differ from our own to get us fired up.
It turns out, being mad is a great media relations tactic. Take the thing you’re annoyed about and write it down in an opinion diary. Use the “notes” app on your phone. I tell people to write down anything they have strong feelings about. Often these things will have nothing to do with your work. Somebody may express an opinion you disagree with. It might take you a lot longer than you expected to get through to a person on a phone line for a company you trust. You might read something in the newspaper. Wherever these gems come from, they’re the beginnings of an opinion piece.
If you feel strongly enough about something to get mad about it, the chances are, you can write a productive essay. Meanwhile, opinion editors all over the world are starving for well-written pieces. A good opinion piece usually starts with a personal story. I tell people the more personal the story, the better. A good piece pivots into framing a challenge or problem. Numbers help. Then it ends with a clear call to action.
Organizations like “the op-ed project” are aiming to change the voices springing up. Whoever writes their opinion shapes history, they say. And I agree. So, you don’t have to have a fancy job title or lots of money to get your piece published. More and more these days, editors are more encouraged to see pieces by people who’ve been on the end of injustice. If you know anybody in a similar position, it might be a good idea to ask them if they’ve considered writing on it.
Not every one of your opinions will lead you to want to write, of course. Let’s say you write a dozen ideas down in a week or two. It’s likely that only one or two of those ideas might make the leap onto your “to-do” list as a piece of writing. Sometimes it helps to work with a professional writer (hello! 👋🏻) to get the piece written fast. I find a lot of my clients value my ability to catch their tone of voice and get the piece written and pitched out that day. It especially helps if you’re mad about a piece of breaking news. But I’ve also worked with people who can do this work themselves with surprising results. If you’re working in an issue area or you have certain advocacy priorities, these are even better. I recommend combining your opinion diary with a regular editorial meeting. You’ll find your opinions coincide often with the news cycle. Then it’s only a question of building relationships with a few sympathetic editors. Soon your drumbeat of published writing will start to build.
Mad is a great place to start. But there are other strong emotions. If you’re feeling amazing about something, that can be a good opinion basis, too. I’m not a complete cynic about human nature. But I’m also a realist. And it turns out, asking people “what’s annoyed you more than anything, lately?”…is often the fast path to a quick PR win.
There. Something to be grateful for. We’re spending our Thanksgiving in front of the television with our child and some store-bought sides. I can’t think of a more delightful way to holiday. And I’m grateful for it. I love this funny piece about how “nothing new is going on with me” by comic writer Alex Baia in the New Yorker this week. It’s the perfect antidote to too much current discourse. But. Whatever you get up to: Happy Thanksgiving!
