Backing up your arguments, writing in first person: Answers for interns

One of the best features of the Bleacher Report writing internship is the weekly email sent out by Joel Cordes, the Internship Program Feedback Editor. He answers questions from interns and offers general tips and advice.

We’ve heard from those weekly emails before, and I’ve asked Joel to post highlights from them in this space every week.

So look for his byline starting next week, but in the meantime, here is the Q&A session from this week’s missive:

I intentionally went against the grain for no reason other than to stir the pot … I think I backed myself up pretty well and presented a logical opinion, so it’s not like I lied or anything, but I’ll let you be the judge of whether my arguments look concrete or whether I look like I’m grasping for straws.

It’s not a bad thing to write from a different perspective other than your own, if you truly believe in the premise and are willing to defend it. However, if you don’t believe in the premise and are just publishing something to grab reads, then don’t be disingenuous in writing something you’re not prepared to actually defend.

You can make always make a more compelling argument on a potentially divisive topic by at least nodding to the disagreements that you anticipate your readers are surely raising. By doing this, it shows that you’ve thought about “both sides” of the argument, and it also allows you to address some of their responses preemptively.

Do comments help get more reads? Does it make the page a higher priority on search engines if there is more activity?

Comments can help an article’s searchability and potentially its site placement too. You should always make an effort to reply to your comments.

I recently had an editor tell me to put one space after a period? First time I have ever heard of this …

We’re living in a brave, very scary new world… It’s funny that you bring this up, as I was just sent this piece the other day, with a subject line of “everything you know is wrong.”

Your editor was actually correct: This is the accepted standard at B/R. I’d recommend following it, though I think the B/R writer interface program supposedly even automatically makes it one space too, so you might be covered that way.

Usually, when the subject interests me, I tend to express my own opinion in a passionate way and, thus, write in first person. In order to develop as a writer, I wanted to know whether it’s OK if I continue this way, or should I take a more “correspondent” approach to my writing?

1. What’s the article’s purpose? If it’s largely to inform, then stay impartial. If its goal is to convince, then write with passion. However, I always think people take a thesis most seriously when it also discusses the alternate points of view.

Write with passion on your viewpoint, but acknowledge how/why others may disagree with it. Obviously, the more informative material you include with such editorial, the more convincing your argument becomes as well.

2. Who is your audience? B/R’s style is largely a niche hybrid: informative editorial. Our writers need to be both knowledgeable and passionate about their work. We want them to inform readers while also taking unique angles that convince people not only what to look at, but how to look at it.

So go ahead and write from a first person perspective, but do avoid using “I think/I feel” expressions, since readers already know you’re writing largely opinion pieces.