That which is weighing on you
You might help yourself (and you might end up with an op-ed)
No doubt, given the state of all the things, there are likely many issues weighing heavily on your heart. Pick one— not necessarily the most important one or the meatiest one or the most complicated one, but just one of them— and write about why the issue matters, and do so in such a way that it might inspire others to take the issues as seriously as you do. In the piece:
Explain why anyone should listen to you about it. Try a sentence like, “As an educator with twenty years of experience, I know that…” or “As a non-binary person working in academia, I regularly interact with….” or whatever credential (tangible or lived) you want to name that lets your reader know they should listen to what you have to say about it.
Prove it. Link to recent and credible evidence to back up your point.
Use a news hook. Why is it relevant to talk about this issue right now? Pro-tip: as an exercise, go to any credible new organization’s website, and look at the first ten headlines on the page. Imagine how, if you absolutely had to, you might connect your message to each of them. For example, say you want to talk about racial discrimination in the banking world. And, say you see a headline in the news about a proposed state-level bill that seems like it would help small business owners get loans. But, based on your expertise, you know it would likely have unintended consequences. So, that might look like, “[Politician] recently sponsored a state house bill to loosen regulations on small business loans, immediately earning the support of the Governor, who promised to sign the bill if passed into law. However, while the bill purports to help more entrepreneurs gain access to capital, a loophole in the bill would actually make it easier for banks to legally discriminate against small business owners from historically underrepresented groups.” See? You just made your message super relevant based on a thing in the news. Done.
Conclude with an action people can take that is very specific and very tangibly possible. If you’re writing about, say, a school being potentially closed in an already under-resourced neighborhood, don’t close with “So, yeah, this is an issue and we have to stop it from happening.” Instead try, “I urge you to attend the community forum on May 1st in solidarity with Friends of XYZ Elementary School, and email the Mayor to express your support for keeping this essential school open and equitably funded, so it can continue serving the [neighborhood] community.”
Sound like a lot? The good news is that most outlets want their op-ed pieces short and sweet and to the point, some capping them at the 650-800 word range. The other good news? Once you write one op-ed about a topic on which you can credibly be persuasive, all you have to do later is freshen up the news hook, tweak the language a bit, perhaps add a new data point, and voila, you have a second piece.
Good luck. I believe in you and know that not only do we all have the ability to speak credibly about something, but the world needs your smart, credible voice to explain what you know.
