An op-ed is read by people who chose to spend a few minutes on it, which makes it the place for your best evidence and your answer to the strongest objection. Editors look for a clear argument, a reason to run it now, and a writer with a reason to be writing it.
Best for: local papers, national outlets, newsletters, blogs. Length: many outlets ask for roughly 600–800 words for an op-ed and 150–250 for a letter; check the outlet's own guidelines. Pairs with: Template: short speech (same argument, spoken).
The structure
``` [HEADLINE] Your argument as a claim, not a topic. (Editors often rewrite it.)
[1. HOOK] 40–80 words. A news peg (why now) or one person's story. [2. THESIS] 1–2 sentences. What you want, stated plainly. [3. WHO I AM] 1 sentence. Why you're the person writing this. [4. REASON 1] 100–150 words. Claim, evidence, source. [5. REASON 2] 100–150 words. Claim, evidence, source. [6. REASON 3] 100–150 words, optional. Often a values reason. [7. OBJECTION] 100–150 words. The strongest counterargument, stated fairly, then answered. [8. CALL] 50–80 words. What the reader should do, and callback to the hook.
[BYLINE] Name, role, and any affiliation or funding that bears on the topic. ```
Fill-in notes
| Part | Write | Technique it uses | Keep it fair |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hook | A dated news event, or one real person's moment. | Narrative, Identifiable victim effect | Real story, with permission; composites flagged. |
| Thesis | "Riverton should…" / "Vote no on…" | Messaging | Say the claim you'll defend; don't retreat from it later (Motte and bailey). |
| Who I am | Your real connection to the issue. | Evidence and credibility: ethos | No borrowed identity (Plain folks). |
| Reasons | Claim, then evidence, then source, each time. | Evidence and credibility, Framing | Numbers with denominators (Card stacking). |
| Objection | The other side's best point, in words they'd accept. Then your answer. | Two-sided refutation (O'Keefe, 1999) | Steel-man it; a weak version is a straw man. |
| Call | One action, and return to the opening image. | Emotional appeal: efficacy | One action, with how and when. |
| Byline | Name, role, affiliations. | Credibility | Disclose anything a reader would want to know (Disclosure theater). |
Filled example: for (condensed)
Invented case: Riverton's Measure 12, a half-cent sales tax for buses every ten minutes. Figures in [brackets] are placeholders for sourced numbers.
Riverton's families deserve their evenings back. Vote yes on 12.
Last Tuesday the Route 4 bus left Elm Street [22] minutes late, and [14] children missed the start of school. It wasn't unusual: on six of Riverton's routes, the bus comes every 40 minutes.
Measure 12 would change that. A half-cent sales tax would pay for buses every ten minutes on those six routes from next September.
I'm a parent of two and have chaired the Elm Street Primary PTA for three years.
First, time. [Reason with the council's ridership study cited.] Second, cost. [Reason with the fiscal note's household figure.] Third, fairness. [Reason: households without a car, with census figure.]
Opponents make a serious point: a higher sales tax could push shoppers over the county line. The gap on a [$40] shop is [20 cents], and the council's study found [most] Main Street customers live within a mile, which is where buses would run most often.
On 3 November, vote yes on 12, and next winter the bus is there before you are.
[Name] chairs the Elm Street Primary PTA and is a volunteer with Riverton Families for Transit.
Filled example: against (condensed)
Measure 12 is the wrong way to fix Riverton's buses.
Harlow Hardware has been on Main Street since 1988. Last year, [three] of its neighbours closed.
Riverton needs better buses. But Measure 12 would pay for them with a sales tax [half a point] higher than the next county's, two miles away, and that falls hardest on the shops that are already struggling.
I run Harlow Hardware and serve on the Chamber of Commerce's board.
First, prices. [Reason with state tax tables cited.] Second, a better option. [Reason: county grant schedule showing routes it can fund.] Third, accountability. [Reason: the measure has no sunset clause, with section cited.]
Supporters say faster buses will bring shoppers to Main Street. They might. But the council's study doesn't measure that, and the three routes that pass Main Street already run every [20] minutes.
Vote no on 12, and come to the council meeting on the 14th to back the county grant plan.
[Name] owns Harlow Hardware and is a board member of the Riverton Chamber of Commerce, which opposes Measure 12.
Real ones to study
The Federalist Papers (1787–88), published as newspaper essays under the pseudonym "Publius", and the Anti-Federalist essays by "Brutus" and others, argued opposite sides of the US Constitution in exactly this form: thesis, reasons, objections answered. Pseudonymous publication was then the norm; this handbook asks you to write in your own name so readers know who is writing and why.
Before you submit
Run Before you publish: the fair-play check. Then read the piece aloud: anything you stumble on, cut.
Sources
- O'Keefe, D. J. (1999). How to handle opposing arguments in persuasive messages. Communication Yearbook, 22, 209–249.
- Hamilton, A., Madison, J. & Jay, J. (1787–88). The Federalist.
- Storing, H. J. (ed.) (1981). The Complete Anti-Federalist. University of Chicago Press.