The following tips were gathered from members of API's 2001 Editorial Page Editors and Writers seminar by syndicated columnist and writing coach Rick Horowitz as part of his presentation "Getting Your Words' Worth: Writing Editorials with Impact." The companies listed reflect where each participant worked at the time of the seminar.
"'Get rid of your darlings.' No, not the people you love, the words you have written that you think are too precious to cut."
Linda D. Alexander, Editorial Page Editor/Writer, The Gazette, Iowa City, Iowa
"No opinion serves the audience without listing a potential remedy or course of action."
Brian Basinger, Editorial Page Editor, The Red & Black, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
"Write it like you speak it: simple but compelling, without exaggeration."
James Campanini, Editorial Page Editor, The Sun, Lowell, Massachusetts
"Write the first draft of the editorial —
top to bottom —
without referring to your notes."
Beth A. Frank, Editorial Writer, Calgary Herald
"Tell the reader where you're going before you get there."
Thomas F. Gagen, Chief Editorial Writer, The Boston Globe
"Make every word tell. Eliminate all unnecessary words. In editorial writing or columns, stick to one idea."
Jeff J. Gerritt, Editorial Writer, Detroit Free Press
"Don't write articles telling people what they already know. Give them new information."
James B. Gittens, Editorial Page Editor, The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
"The 'nut' graph. It should be up high in the editorial."
Joseph Hallett, Politics Editor, The Columbus Dispatch
"Take risks."
Stephen Henderson, Associate Editor, The Sun, Baltimore, Maryland
"Write from the heart."
James Hill, Managing Editor, Washington Post Writers Group
"Never try to say it all. Slice off pieces."
Douglas MacEachern, Editorial Writer, The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona
"Limit one idea per sentence."
Thomas M. Oliver, Editorial Writer, The Atlanta Journal
"A quote from Mark Twain: 'Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defense.'"
Charles M. Rousseaux, Editorial Writer, The Washington Times
"Never contradict the publisher."
David M. Shutt, Editorial Director, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
"Don't second-guess your first instincts —
but that seems to work better in news writing."
Denise L. Tessier, Editorial Writer, Albuquerque Journal
"Never stop writing —
if you write one page a day, in a year you'll have a novel."
Craig Urey, Editorial Page Editor, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pennsylvania
