Most people say "guest columns," but the real name is "oped," because it's a bit of an oxymoron to say a one-time piece on the opinion page is a recurring column.
Opeds and speeches are the toughest things to write. Unlike stories and press releases, there’s no simple formula like the inverted pyramid.
While they're tough to write, opeds are also one of the most powerful things you can write, because the opinion pages are well-read and, unlike a news story designed to inform, opeds are built to persuade, to get people to act.
So where do you start?
Start by working backward and asking three questions:
1) What do you want the reader to DO?
Say half the town – or half the nation -- reads your oped and agrees with you. What do you want them to do?
This is the biggest failure of most opeds. They make a case but never make the ask. They don’t call on the reader to do anything.
It’s not enough to persuade somebody that you're right. If you’re trying to get something done, something big, then you need support from people – and you better do a good job of inspiring them to actually follow through.
2) It’s not about you; it's about the readers
Maybe you’re the world’s greatest expert on this issue. Or maybe this is your pet idea that you’ve given birth to and nourished for nine years, despite all odds.
But if you make the oped about you, the reader will see it as an ego trip – and they won’t see a need do donate an iota of their time, money or energy toward your dream. Your oped has to treat the issue as common dream, something that can be shared and that benefits the average reader.
3) What will the other side say?
If there's no opposition to your idea, the newspaper won't print it. Opinion pages are for controversial issues.
So you've got opposition. Research it. Find their best points. And be respectful when you rebut those points.
Don’t disparage or ignore the opposition. Give their case some credence and pre-empt what they’ll say against you.