Speaking of the Diamondback, my second column as a staff op-ed writer ran yesterday. My editor had asked me to take a break from politics and national issues to focus on something more pertinent to campus life. I obliged, with this light-hearted piece on laundry.
Based on the mixed reactions it received, I'm inclined to agree with those who told me to "stick to politics!"
3 comments:
Hm. Well, you kind of lay on the joking/sarcasm and artificial drama pretty thick, then abruptly switch to actual serious suggestion, which kind of threw me; I didn't realize you had switched to serious mode for a paragraph. That said, I think your main problem is trying to stretch the topic too much. People just don't care TOO much about laundry. Your suggestions are the kind of thing that might work better in a "list of little things about college life i've been thinking about that could be better" sort of column. Your efforts to pad it to a full column with the humorous intro and detailed suggestions are admirable, but that topic's just not going to hold interest.
Also, I disagree with your editor: you can have a perfectly successful column writing only on one subject, be it politics or something else. Often you end up defining yourself better that way. Just make sure you write about a variety of things within politics, not just a constant critique of the latest moves by the Bush administration, every single time. And if you feel like taking a break and writing about the college food once in a while, there's room for that too.
That was a clever preface (to the link), I was really looking for a bad article and didn't get it.
In an apartment next year I might do some hand washing and hang drying. Then again I'm "planning on" pennypinching quite a bit, who knows if it'll pan out.
And if Todd pulled that double dipping crap he is a despicable human being. By which I mean props to him.
Thanks for the critique, ABT, that was a fair assessment. I'll keep your suggestions in mind.
Phil, your laundry idea sounds quite excellent, but I'm betting that after a week or two you go back to machine washing. Also, far be it from me to name names of the people I write about in my column...ha!
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