Suzette Martinez Standring - The Art of Column Writing: Insider Secrets from Art Buchwald, Dave Barry, Arianna Huffington, Pete Hamill and Other Great Columnists

To The Man Upstairs who brought me to all this for a reason, and to my husband David and daughter Star who remind me what it is.

Copyright 2008 Suzette Martinez Standring

All Rights Reserved

ISBN 1-933338-261

ISBN 13: 978-1-933338-262

Printed in U.S.A.

Printing 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Marion Street Press

4326 S.E. Woodstock Blvd. # 406

Portland, Ore. 97206-6270

(503) 888-4624

www.marionstreetpress.com

E very morning millions of readers turn the page to their favorite newspaper columnist. Maybe turning your stories or opinions into a column has crossed your mind.

This is why I know this book will be helpful.

Within a short time from when I first began my freelance column in 2000, my work went from an occasional run to frequent newspaper publication. In 2003 I was voted Best Columnist by the readership of The Milton Times (Mass.). In 2005, the year I first approached The Boston Globe, they ran all three columns I submitted. In 2006, The Patriot Ledger (Mass.) made me one of their regular Faith and Values columnists on its religion page. That same year, I wrote a column about spending two days in hospice with Art Buchwald that was carried widely on national news sites and was featured on Bostons NPR affiliate.

What made the difference? Learning from colleagues I met through the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Americas oldest and largest organization devoted solely to newspaper columnists. I joined the NSNC in 1999 and became its president for the 2004-2006 term.

In comparison, my colleagues can roll out mightily more impressive resumes. But considering my background no college degree and no formal training in writing my progress is stunning and I credit colleagues who were generous with their advice.

From working columnists I learned about writing with all five senses, how to discern ones true voice, how to work with editors, and how to keep things fresh. In trying to understand their success, I poked and prodded at their greatness. They, in turn, nudged me toward being great, too. I am a work in progress, but my milestones were unthinkable back when I first tiptoed into a hotel ballroom swarming with professional columnists.

They gave me much more than a practical primer on how to write, and that was how to be.

Truthful. Real. Using ones sensibilities to help others understand the world around them, or better yet, how to change that little part of the world each of us can reach.

It occurred to me that if their advice propelled my career forward, then why not mine that rich vein for others? Maybe youre just starting out and need advice. If youre a seasoned columnist, then be refreshed.

Here working columnists share their secrets to column writing success. Be inspired by the passion of some of the finest in the industry for this unique and beloved genre.

Suzette Martinez Standring
Past President
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
July 11, 2007

Therefore search and see if there is not some place where you may invest your humanity.

Albert Schweitzer

C olumns are concentrated storytelling, and you dream of writing a great one. Your work moves people to action. Thanks to you, stubborn contrarians change long-held beliefs. Readers laugh or cry, but certainly they ask their friends, Did you read her column this morning?

This is your dream.

Invariably, the quest begins with the question, How do I become a columnist?

Heres the deal: many arrived at their careers through strange and inexplicable circumstances, which makes sense because columnists are strange and inexplicable people. Few began with columnist as their ultimate writing goal. Many were writers on their way to other things news reporters, music critics, authors, or feature writers. One columnist got his start as a regular generator of letters to the editor. The Kingdom of Columnists is fraught with zigs and zags.

Before newspaper writing, I was an association director in California, my home state. My writing experience came mainly from promoting legal seminars and penning persuasive letters to big shot attorneys. Long comical letters to friends rounded out my writing resume.

When my husbands pharmaceutical career relocated us to New Jersey in 1998, I saw an ad for an adult education class in journalism.

Hey, writing as a career, I thought, No more lawyers. Yeah.

Jay Langley, the then owner/editor of the Hunterdon County Democrat, taught the basics of news writing with six weeks of practice articles. Langley was impressed with my homework and suggested I work for him.

It all happened so fast. I went from wowing him with a mushroom hunting feature to becoming the county news reporter.

Wait, I said, Im not familiar with New Jersey yet. County politics? No way. County fairs, maybe.

Langley said, Youll get it through osmosis.

He waved me off, even as my plaintive question echoed down the hallway, Whats a board of freeholders? (the county board of elected officials, as I soon learned).

So I tackled open space preservation and local elections. I became the point person on the deer overpopulation problem. I, who had no previous experience with wild animals, soon became an expert of deer biology, infrared aerial surveys, crop loss, and Lyme disease.

So I penned a humor column as personal therapy. My perspective was the citified woman now living in an agricultural New Jersey suburb. I wrote about things like seeing deer for the first time. There I was, jumping up and down, shiny-eyed with excitement as if they were gorillas. In contrast, my neighbors couldnt even bother to look up from their coffee cups, long jaded as they were from hordes of deer munching on their lawns.

Cooking up these columns was a way to kill time before the county meetings started. On impulse, I handed one to the editor, and asked, What do you think?

Langley said, Not bad, Ill run it.

It became a popular feature.

Later, I relocated to Boston and brought with me my new passion for column writing. This time, I decided to give freelance writing a try.

I joined the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, looking to them to shine a light on the straight road to a career in column writing.

Guess what? It doesnt exist.

According to colleagues, this is how they got their jobs: a freak accident, hard work, being-at-the-right-place-at-the-right-time-with-the-right-subject, good contacts, sheer serendipity, having a column added to news reporting duties, answering an ad, building a saleable body of work, networking, wearing down an editor, developing a readership separate from a newspaper, writing a book, becoming an expert, or just plain dumb luck.

Many stood by their plan (or lack of one) and swore success, The Quest for a Column but heres the real lowdown: every triumph was based on stellar writing.

Which leads to another question commonly asked during ones quest for a column Where can I get my work published?

Certainly, as a novice, that was my own Holy Grail question.

Much to my chagrin, I discovered it is a cart-before-the-horse query.

It is better to ask, How can I make my work worthy of being published?

Lets take a moment to deconstruct a newspaper column.

It compels or captivates with a tale, a message, or a persuasive argument. Jam-pack those thoughts into, say, 600 select words. Create an engaging start, an informative middle, and ideally, a surprise ending, all written in a voice so signature any reader could identify the columnist even without a byline.