How long does it take you...

[Sheri]

to write an op-ed column of about 700-800 words?

and how long in prep time?

 

[dooley_womack1]

The letdown factor upon opening this thread is off the charts.

 

[Sheri]

Well, it was placed in journalism topics only, after all.

Hopefully, someone will answer... I sometimes have trouble banging one out and always leave it for the final hour, of course.

would be informative to know how others tackle it.

 

[Montezuma's Revenge]

I'd answer, but it would probably out me to too many people.

By the way, are you really asking about op-ed columns like on the editorial page? Don't think a lot of sports journalists have much experience with that.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Well, Newsjournalists.com is toast, so what option was there?

 

[Jay Sherman]

Like a column? If it's around 18" or so, probably half an hour if I know what I'm going to say and have all my stuff in front of me. Otherwise maybe a few hours.

 

[mike311gd]

It depends on the subject material, how into it I am, how much research I need to do, if I was at the event, how it affects me, etc.

Anywhere from 45 minutes to next week.

 

[Gold]

If you have all the facts at hand and are confident of your opinion, I would say it probably could be done in two hours and maybe another half hour to edit, polish, and perfect it. I think it certainly would take more than three hours counting prep time.

I've never done it, but I would think it would be easier than writing a story because it is opinion.

 

[slappy4428]

It depends on the subject and my mood. I've spent two days working on 500 words and 20 minutes on 800.

 

[ink-stained wretch]

Generally 45 minutes if I get to think about it for three or four days. Too friggin' long if I come in cold.

 

[Ira_Schoffel]

Column/op-ed writing isn't my favorite thing to do, but what works best for me is outlining my argument before writing a word. If I just sit down and look at the screen, I end up wasting a ton of time and tend to write very wordy.

 

[Sheri]

Sorry, I never thought about sports writers not having to write many op-eds.
When I first found this board, I emailed the admins to find out if there were any news web forums, but they said this included news journalism as well, that there were no strictly news forums.

Anyway, thanks for the answers.

My op-ed was published today and I've decided I have to spend more time on them. While I have no shortage of opinions, polishing them is another matter. When I read them the next day, I'm generally unhappy with the result. So, if they are published Thursday and need to be completed by 3 p.m. Wednesday, I'll usually start at 2:45 or so. If I just started on Tuesday, even if I wrote it equally fast, I'd have an entire day to re-read.

Thanks.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

The letdown factor upon opening this thread is off the charts.

It's compounded by the fact that BYH has yet to respond ...