Write For The Point of View

Everything you need to know about becoming a writer with The Point of View

Welcome to The Point of View

The POV publishes opinion pieces, also known as Op-Eds, about culture, society, politics, gender, and everything in between or beyond.

We aren’t partisan. We publish controversial topics as long as they follow the Medium rules (the obvious one being no hate speech). We reserve the right to reject articles we deem inappropriate.

We only accept opinions (op-eds), so please ensure your article is an argument, not an explanation.

P.S. I’m also the owner of Bitchy, a Medium publication about gender, identity, and culture through the feminist lens. If you feel like your essay better suits Bitchy, please apply to become a writer here.

Our goals are:

1. To create a community of writers interested in reading and writing opinion pieces.
2. To shape the world one point of view at a time.
3. To create a platform for the public to discuss and debate.

Characteristics of an Op-Ed:

• It has a clearly defined point of view or argument.
• It contains the strong, unique voice of the writer (in other words, it’s your opinion).
• It is supported by specific evidence and research.
• It can be a satirical piece. (Click here for an example).
• It’s not an explanation of something, but rather an argument.

Questions to ask yourself when writing an Op-Ed:

• Do I have a clear point to make?
• Is it controversial or provocative?
• What is it?
• Who cares? (Write with a particular audience in mind. Who is it that you are trying to convince? Why are you targeting that specific reader?)
• Is there substance to my argument?
• Are my sentences short and my paragraphs tight?
• Does it convey a clear call-to-action or takeaway? (Eg. When parents stop posting their children online, we can finally say we did everything to protect our children).

Credit: http://bitly.ws/tiNs

How to write an Op-Ed:

Examples:

Our editing process:

We work closely with each writer. Three things could happen after you submit your essay, and we will notify you.

1. Rejected — If your submission is not an op-ed, and/or has many spelling and grammatical errors and/or doesn’t adhere to Medium rules.
2. Accepted but need work — If your submission shows potential, we will work with you to develop the essay.
3. Accepted — If your submission needs minor changes or no changes.

Now with the technicalities:

• Submit your drafts directly to our publication.
• Format so there are no more than 3–4 sentences per paragraph to ensure readability across all formats.
• We don’t publish listicles or how-tos or explanations of something. We publish strong arguments.
• Read time of 4–8 minutes.
• Switch up long sentences with short sentences so it’s not text-heavy.
• Turnaround time is 24–72 hours.
• Please proofread your draft (use a spell checker) and ensure you’re following Medium rules.
• Please make sure all the photos are credited, including your own. For what is accepted and what is not, go here.
• When linking a text, please only highlight a word or four to give the page a clean look.
• Please don’t submit stories that have already been published on your site or another pub on Medium.
• Use a headline analyzer to write an effective headline. (not an affiliate link).
• Optimize your story with SEO for more visibility. Here’s a great article to show you how.
• Follow our publication.

Editorial style sheet:

• Always include a subtitle and a picture for your article
• Spell out numbers that are less than 10 and write as numbers if they’re 10 and over.
• Subheadings should be in lowercase with a big T format (reason: the font shrinks when published).
• Cut up chunks of paragraphs. No more than three to four sentences in one paragraph.
• Vary the length of your sentences (long sentence, then short, then long, etc.)
• Don’t write your sources below your article. Post them as a link on your article.
• When linking, don’t highlight more than three words.
• Here’s an excellent guide on how to format your essay.

Tagging:

• One of the tags should be “thepov” so it’s easy to find articles published here.
• The four other tags should be at least one or more of the following: Society, Culture, Technology, Gender, Parenting, Politics, Social Media
• The five tags should be at least one or more of the following: Society, Culture, Technology, Gender, Parenting, Politics, Social Media. This will allow your story to appear on one of these tabs on our homepage.
• For more topics/tag options, go here.

Want to be a writer?

Comment here with your handle (eg. @Megikirri) and we’ll add you. And don’t forget to follow us on Medium.