What is Column Writing?
Column writing is very different from other forms
is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper,
magazine or other publication, where a writer
expresses their own opinion in few columns allotted
to them by the newspaper organization.
Column Writing: Its Nature and Concepts
Many young writers prefer to write columns rather
than straight news or features. Straight news is
deemed to be boring covering press conferences and
reporting who said what. Feature stories involve too
much reporting and require discipline to follow a set
structure. Columns, which are essentially opinion
pieces, are much freer, therefore easier. Or so it
seems.
Anybody can be trained to write straight news
because it is very mechanical. Feature articles,
though also somewhat formulaic, are harder because
they require good writing, but column writing is the
hardest type of writing because it requires good
thinking.
Your opinions must make sense, provide insight and
be convincing. You must do all this in an
entertaining way.
It requires you to be almost like a lawyer. Through
your arguments, you will need to convince the jury
(your readers) that your client (your viewpoint) is
right. Shaping powerful argument takes practice and
requires both breadth and depth of knowledge as
well as the ability to critically analyze a particular
issue.
So, is there a methodology for training someone to
become a "good thinker"? No one is sure about that
but it helps you when you are well-read, inquisitive
and willing to listen to various viewpoints. "If you
are someone who likes to write but does not want to
do research or think deeply about an issue, forget
about column writing," a writer said.
Studying your role models will help you develop
your own voice. Follow the work of several
established columnists and analyze their writings to
discover how they project their arguments and how
they make effective use of anecdotes, quotes and
statistics. From there, you can learn the tricks of the
trade and eventually develop your own distinctive
voice and style.
of writing because unlike straight news and feature
writing, columns have dedicated readerships. A
columnist develops a following because his/her
readers feel they can gain knowledge, insight and
entertainment from reading his/her writings. It is a
great honor to be given a regular column; however,
remember, to do it well requires a great amount of
dedication to the craft.
Lastly, be ready for criticism. If you can dish it out,
you have got to be able to take as good as you got.
When you take a strong stance on anything, there is
bound to be someone offended by what you write.
And they will write to you often in less than polite
language to let you know exactly what they think of
you and your opinions. It goes with the territory.
Types of Column
1. Editorial (news commentary) Column. It
comments or interprets timely subjects. Other
columnists writing this sometimes make use of short
paragraphs on several topics. It may treat one
subject per issue. The sources are current news,
observation, interview, commendable undertakings
or accomplishments and investigation.
2. Variety or Humor Column. This is an
entertainment feature made of short items, such as
philosophical comments, a play on names, local
humor, parodies, and quotes of unintentional
blunders, light thrusts at school happenings, puns,
jokes and list origin. Generally, it must be funny,
clean, in good taste, pertinent to school life and
original.
3. Personals or Chatter Column. It is a column
about well-known persons. All materials should be
true and all suggestions are complimentary.
4. Hodge-podge Column. This is a column of
various topics that are separated by moustache like
asterisks. Ensure that topics included are relevant
and timely to the readers.
5. Opinion Column. It concerns about the readers'
views and may take the form of the poll or
"inquiring reporter" and the letter to the editor.
6. Exchange Column. This is a collection of items
culled by the exchange editors from papers of other
schools. Topics may be crisp bits of interesting
news or they may contain suggestions for the
students of the writer's own school. Comments may
or may not be added.
7. Book Column. Consists of several short reviews
which help the reader find titles for book reports,
the review is limited to 50 words. This includes the
title, author, a general idea of the content, a brief
comment on its possible use for the reader. More
detailed review contains some information about the
author.
Tips in Writing a Column
1. Write with conviction. Put forward your opinion
as something you truly believe in. Argue your case
with conviction. Come down hard on one side of an
issue. Be unequivocal. Never ever sit on the fence.
By writing with conviction, you may opt to use the
techniques of persuasion discussed in the previous
chapter
2. Maintain your focus. Make your column about
one thing and one thing alone. Do not intersperse
the message with another topic, it makes the column
convoluted. When such happens, your column will
be difficult to understand. Maintain your focus. That
is the only way to make a strong impression on your
readers and to convince them that your point of
view is correct.
3. Understand opposing viewpoints. Be mindful of
the opposing argument. Anticipate objections to
your point of view and deal with them convincingly
with sound reasoning. If you are not familiar with
the opposing view, you will not be able to argue
your points well.
4. Refer to facts. Your arguments, however logical,
will not carry much weight unless they are
accompanied by facts that support your position. Do
not overdo this and inundate your readers with
statistics and figures. However, do make use of
facts from reputable sources.
5. Use analogies. Analogies are useful for
illustrating a point, especially when the topic you
are writing about is somewhat complicated or
technical. Using a simple analogy from everyday
life makes the issue more understandable and
relevant to the reader.
6. Be critical. People like reading columnists who
dare to criticize real life people - not just nameless
concepts and policies. Naming names might create a
bit of controversy but as long as you do not libel
anyone and don't go overboard in your criticism, it
works well to make your column an interesting and
exciting read.
7. Do reporting. It is possible to write columns
without doing any reporting, but the best columns
typically involve some form of reporting. When you
report, you get on the ground and you gain a better
sense of what is really happening.
8. Localize and personalize. Localize your story
whenever possible. Also tie it to some personal
experience yours or that of someone you know. This
makes an otherwise esoteric and distant topic more
real, relevant and memorable to the reader.
9. Be passionate. Generally, people do not like to
hear a soft or passive voice when they read a
column. So be aggressive - even arrogant, to an
extent. People want to see passion. They want to
feel energized. If the issue does not seem to excite
you as the writer, it is certainly not going to excite
the reader.
10. Provide a solution. Last but not least, do not just
raise an issue. Have the conviction to suggest a
solution. Columns that criticize certain policies but
offer no solutions are useless. People read columns
because they want to gain insight and answers. If
you do not provide those, you have failed as a
columnist.
Suggestions for Beginning Columnists
When writing a column, do:
1. give the reader timely, helpful information;
2. develop a structure and keep it. Write on a
regular schedule;
3. write simple and short sentences and paragraphs;
4. in personal columns, use local names and places;
5. let others speak for you by use of quotes and
references; and
6. learn the difference between a column and a news
story.
When writing a column, do NOT
1. use technical or complex words;
2. talk in jargon or unfamiliar terms;
13. If the column gives serious suggestions, be sure
it is reliable.
14. For variety, deal with different aspects of the
main topic.

3. include too much detail or material. You should
be stimulating interest, not exhausting a subject; and
4. refer to yourself as a third person (this author,
your reporter) or quote yourself (Jimmy Jones said).
Instead use mine.
15. Have items set in various typographical styles,
such as italics, bold type, different points, caps and
short clever heads.
16. Avoid unkind references to people.

Some More Tips on Column Writing

1Write the way you talk, but do not discard good

English usage and grammar by being and informal.

2 Try to uncover the opening that will catch the

interest of your readers

3. Use a variety of material, not just one subject.

4. Write about people. Keep heavy subject matter to

a minimum. When using subject matter, try to tell
the story through the experiences of local people.

5. Write simply. Avoid technical or difficult words,

long sentences, long paragraphs.

6. Do not weigh your column down with too much

detail. Try to stimulate interest in a subject but do
not exhaust the subject.

7. Be timely. Keep up with the effect of weather

conditions, seasons, etc, pointing out the
significance of these conditions locally.

8. Remember the people you are talking to and give

them information that will benefit them in a way
they can understand.

9. Get a clever name for the column.

10. If the column is meant to entertain, be sure that

it does entertain paper's typical readers.

11. Stay within the subject range of the column.

12. Make most items short, separated by

typographical devices like long dashes (_ _ _).
Asterisks (***), moustache (-0-)