How to write a good column?
Speaking of columns in newspapers or magazines, I believe everyone is familiar with them. We can often see columns written by certain experts, scholars or social sages in the media, and the articles written by these celebrities are usually novel and insightful, which is different from the general content we often see on social media.
Some friends may want to ask, what is a column? Simply put, a column is one of the important ways to edit manuscripts, and it is also a section of newspapers and magazines dedicated to publishing manuscripts with a certain content. Generally speaking, columns will have a fixed name and location. As for the providers of column content, also known as columnists, they refer to professionals who write a series of articles for newspapers, magazines or media. The articles they write must provide comments and their own opinions.
What is a column?
A column is not a news article, but it is news. It generally answers why and how. It often is personal, using the first and second person (I and you). A column often states an opinion. It is said to be like writing an open letter. A column also has a standard head, called a title, and a by-line (name) at the top. These identify you and your column for the reader.
If we use a more rigorous definition to examine it, only writing articles in newspapers, magazines or media will be regarded as writing columns. However, nowadays, as long as the public is willing to publish and share their own opinions, they can actually express their opinions through blogs, social media, or using content platforms such as Fanggezi and Medium. Especially in this era of the rise of self-media, we should welcome a variety of diverse voices and the collision of different ideas.
The general manager of Taiwan Mobile Lin Zhichen once said: “Have a column also has many external benefits. In addition to the most obvious personal brand and social influence, what people are less aware of is that it can attract like-minded friends and partners.”
In addition, he also mentioned: “Publishing articles publicly will force you to face different readers and hear different feedbacks, helping you to understand and [understand the various stratospheres in the world and enhance empathy] (https://www.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?&id=5087629). It will also enhance your ability to use a rational and objective attitude, listen to different voices, and enhance your ability to dialogue with them.”
Writing a column requires a lot of thinking
Well, it seems that writing a column has many benefits! So, how do we write a good column?
A well-written column often has extraordinary meaning and value. Therefore, writing a column usually requires a lot of thinking, repeated deliberation and deliberation, and it may not be easy to do it every time. Similar to writing a blog or general online articles, you can quickly do it “I write it by hand and I speak it”. Therefore, even experienced columnists usually need to conceive and refine their opinions before writing.
Lin Zhichen pointed out that his [column] (https://www.cw.com.tw/article/5100128) usually starts from a rough concept, and then it takes five to ten hours of research and thinking to develop into a complete article. Why does it take so much time? That’s because just by writing down a truth clearly, your understanding of it will be several times greater than by just reading it.
What General Manager Lin said makes sense, but don’t be frightened by spending five to ten hours! Judging from my own experience, as long as I have accumulated and prepared on a daily basis, as well as thinking more about things and refining my opinions, when I really want to start writing a column, it only takes about half an hour to an hour to conceive and write.
Of course, the prerequisite for writing a column is that you have something to say, and you must have original ideas first, and you cannot follow what others say.
Well-known writer Thomas Freeman (Thomas L. Friedman) in “Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Prospering in an Age of Acceleration”(https://www.books.com.tw/exep/assp.php/vista/products/0010740893?utm_source =vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=recommend&utm_campaign=ap-202105)” points out in the book: The purpose of writing a column is not only to inform the facts, but to influence others and stimulate readers’ reactions. Therefore, columnists need to find a suitable angle of entry and convince people through arguments.
The biggest difference between columns and other types of articles is that readers want to see the columnist’s point of view, not just a description of certain people, events, places and objects.
Three basic elements for writing a good column
Thomas Freeman believes that if you want to write a good column, you need to have three basic elements:
The first is personal values; the second is your understanding of how the world works, in his words, how the world’s largest gears and pulleys contribute to events; the third is the columnist’s understanding of people and culture, and through this understanding, you can gain insight into how people will react under the impact of huge forces.
Liu Run, a well-known business consultant, divides column articles into three categories, namely: WHAT (what), WHY (why) and HOW (how to do it).
He believes that writing WHAT columns is relatively easy, explaining the concept: “what is sunk cost”; writing WHY columns is much more difficult, related motivation: “why” I need to understand sunk costs; writing HOW columns is relatively the most difficult, practical application: “how to do it”, so that I can take advantage of sunk costs and benefit from it.
Therefore, WHY has a greater sense of value than WHAT; HOW has a greater sense of value than WHY.
He also suggested that everyone should think carefully: do you want your readers to leave with WHAT, WHY, or HOW? Are you really going to put in multiple times of effort, push yourself to the limit, and provide the most difficult HOW value?
In other words, if you only stay in the WHAT (what is it) stage, you may not have much problem writing social posts or blog articles, but there is still a long way to go before you can write an eye-catching column, and you need to work harder.
My four steps for column writing
If you are also interested in writing columns, I would like to share my past [writing experience] of writing columns for some media (https://udn.com/search/word/2/%E9%84%AD%E7%B7%AF%E7%AD%8C). Simply put, it can be divided into the following four recommended steps:
- Reserve creative inspiration at ordinary times.
- Clearly define the topic of the column.
- Construct an overall skeleton view.
- Start writing columns.
First of all, if you want to write a good column that makes people feel, it is not enough to just keep an eye on current events or follow social topics. I would suggest that you build an inspiration database for yourself. When you see interesting or important information, please remember to organize it.
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Second, you must have a rigorous topic for the column you want to write. Doing this will prevent you from going off topic, or setting the topic too broad and writing it incompletely. As General Manager Lin mentioned, it is not easy just to write down a truth clearly! Therefore, as far as columns are concerned, being all-inclusive is not necessarily a good thing. Readers would rather see good articles with clear arguments.
After setting the topic of the column, you need to lay the foundation and set up the skeleton of the article. Think about how to start, how to lay out the middle, and how to end? More importantly what is your perspective on the subject? In addition to polishing and practicing your sentences, you also need to express your specific views on the matter sincerely and faithfully.
After you have completed all aspects of the idea and collected the necessary writing elements and themes, the next work will be relatively simple! Just write down all your thoughts to complete this column. If you are afraid of losing everything, you can also use a notebook or cards to record relevant inspirations.
For friends who are just starting to practice writing columns, my advice is to “ask for something first, then something good.” Usually, watching more columns by experts and scholars to learn their perspectives and narrative methods, and at the same time reading more good books and absorbing diverse knowledge and information will naturally help improve your writing skills.
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Well, that’s about it for the preliminary work on how to write a column. Writing is an art of action. Everyone is welcome to practice together! Of course, if you have any questions about writing, you are welcome to leave a message or write to me!
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