Bret Stephens a few months ago offered "Tips for Aspiring Op-Ed Writers" in the New York Times — most of which apply to all writing. Slightly abridged, his list:
1) A wise editor once observed that the easiest decision a reader can make is to stop reading. This means that every sentence has to count in grabbing the reader's attention, starting with the first. Get to the point: Why does your topic matter? Why should it matter today? And why should the reader care what you, of all people, have to say about it?
2) The ideal reader of an op-ed is the ordinary subscriber — a person of normal intelligence who will be happy to learn something from you, provided he can readily understand what you're saying. It is for a broad community of people that you must write ...
3) The purpose of an op-ed is to offer an opinion. It is not a news analysis or a weighing up of alternative views. It requires a clear thesis, backed by rigorously marshaled evidence, in the service of a persuasive argument. ...
4) Authority matters. Readers will look to authors who have standing, either because they have expertise in their field or unique experience of a subject. If you can offer neither on a given topic you should not write about it, however passionate your views may be. ...
5) Younger writers with no particular expertise or name recognition are likelier to get published by following an 80-20 rule: 80 percent new information; 20 percent opinion.
6) An op-ed should never be written in the style of a newspaper column. A columnist is a generalist, often with an idiosyncratic style, who performs for his readers. An op-ed contributor is a specialist who seeks only to inform them.
7) Avoid the passive voice. Write declarative sentences. Delete useless or weasel words such as "apparently," "understandable" or "indeed." Project a tone of confidence, which is the middle course between diffidence and bombast.
8) Be proleptic, a word that comes from the Greek for "anticipation." That is, get the better of the major objection to your argument by raising and answering it in advance. Always offer the other side's strongest case, not the straw man. Doing so will sharpen your own case and earn the respect of your reader.
9) Sweat the small stuff. Read over each sentence — read it aloud — and ask yourself: Is this true? Can I defend every single word of it? Did I get the facts, quotes, dates and spellings exactly right? ...
10) You're not Proust. Keep your sentences short and your paragraphs tight.
11) A newspaper has a running conversation with its readers. Before pitching an op-ed you should know when the paper last covered that topic, and how your piece will advance the discussion.
12) Kill the clichés. ...
13) If you find writing easy, you're doing it wrong. One useful tip for aspiring writers comes from the film "A River Runs Through It," in which the character played by Tom Skerritt, a Presbyterian minister with a literary bent, receives essays from his children and instructs them to make each successive draft "half as long." ...
14) The editor is always right. She's especially right when she axes the sentences or paragraphs of which you're most proud. ...
15) I'd wish you luck, but good writing depends on conscious choices, not luck. Make good choices.
... and Be Metacognitive — develop mental models of your readers and their thinking, then think seriously about how your words will change their thinking. Don't antagonize or irritate to make yourself feel better, and don't flatter or fawn to hide flaws.
(cf. How to Write (2000-11-28), Iambic Honesty 1 (2001-04-23), Relentlessly Linear (2005-07-23), Rules for Writing (2010-03-07), Rule of 200 (2010-08-25), Brainpickings Tidbits (2012-07-31), ...) - ^z - 2017-11-18