IT’S MY OPINION
If you have a volatile personality with a list of pet peeves you keep adding to daily, this is the assignment for you. An op-ed, a brief first-person argument on a timely topic, can also be the fastest and most furious piece to get into print. It’s especially good for new writers with strong beliefs and day jobs in other fields, since editors want quick commentary about the ever-changing news cycle from experts who can illuminate different angles of stories as they unfold. You don’t need clips or any publishing experience on your résumé to appear on—and get paid by—a top op-ed page. You mainly need an engaging or unusual point of view on a current public conundrum, usually about 600 words. If you’re thinking 6,000 words, you’re in the wrong section.
The name op-ed originated as an abbreviation for “opposite of the editorial page,” where short, pithy commentaries by freelancers ran regularly in daily newspapers. Yet “opinion/editorial” is a better way to think of these topical rants that appear around the clock these days. To decide what to
