Getting into writing can be quite daunting for people, but it    is easier than ever before to be a writer. The internet has    placed virtually all the information of consequence known to    anyone at our fingertips. So it is vitally important for all    those libertarian writers who feel so inclined, to be active.  
    With this article I hope to get some hesitant aspiring    libertarian writers, or writers who have already started but    are still unsure about some things, to put pen to paper.  
    This is simply a collection of those things which have helped    me throughout my writing career and which I have told people    when they asked me for advice. I am not a journalist or a    literary scholar, so everything you will read here comes from    my personal experience in writing. I have also had the    privilege of being the editor in chief of two publications: The    Rational    Standard, South Africas only libertarian publication,    and, of course, Being Libertarian. But dont see these    tips as the only set of valid tips, as many different    things work for many different people.  
    This list is also not comprehensive. These tips are merely some    of my thoughts, and if pressed, I might be able to share many    others.  
    This is the most important tip I hope aspiring libertarian    writers take to heart.  
    While research and fact-checking are by default important for    any type of writer, overthinking your endeavor can at best lead    to significant delay, and at worst to abandonment. If you are    unable to verify something  dont worry, writing op-eds is not    academic writing. Tell your readers that you were unable to    verify it, but explain why you believe it to be true    regardless. Make an argument; dont get hung up on the numbers,    especially if you are writing from the perspective of Austrian    economics. Dont, however, be dishonest or try to hide the fact    that you couldnt find empirical evidence from your readers.  
    Also try to set limits on the scope of your article. I will    address brevity below, but here it is important that you not    consider your article to be the final word on a given topic.    You do not need to explain everything you say at length. Assume    your readers have a hunger to do some reading on the topic    elsewhere!  
    The most important thing you should do, however, is to just    start writing. Put your ideas on paper, and see what    happens.  
    Remember, you are not writing an academic paper where you are    investigating something. You already have a message you    want to get across.  
    Start your article by writing down your core thought  usually    your conclusion  and build it around that. For example, if you    think minimum wage laws would hurt unskilled workers, start    your article by writing exactly that. Your lead-up and    introduction will come later, but you need to ensure the core    message you want to convey appears in the text of the article    in a similar way it came to your mind; usually brief and in    understandable language.  
    We are ordinarily taught that conclusions need to be at the end    of the text, but when writing articles, its important to get    your message across in the very first paragraph, to ensure even    those people who dont read the entire text have at least seen    the most important information. This is known as the lede or    lead of the article, and is essentially like a preface in a    book.  
    The next paragraph, whether it has a heading or not, will    usually be your introduction.  
    Many other editors will disagree with me on this point, but I    must re-emphasise, again, that you are not writing an academic    paper which requires extensive justification for your    assertions. In ordinary articles, this is not necessary,    depending on your audience. If you are writing to a libertarian    audience, you usually do not need to explain at length why the    State is a violent institution, for example.  
    The best length of an article has been said to be 500 to 800    words. Any longer than this might cause ordinary readers to    bookmark your article to read later  something which doesnt    always happen. Longer articles, however, certainly have their    place, and this will usually depend on what you intend your    article to be  a summary, a comprehensive analysis, a    manifesto  and whether or not you are commenting on something    timely or timeless.  
    Many writers are very concerned about the responses they get to    their articles. This is good, as this is how a market    ordinarily functions. However, just like a company should be    free to determine for itself how to do things, should a writer    not submit himself entirely to the whims of his readers.  
    Be conscious of what your readers think about your work, but    dont let that get in the way of continuing to do what youre    doing. After all, you have an idea youre trying to sell, and    just because others are not willing to buy it doesnt mean you    have to stop. Otherwise, libertarians would be in big trouble!  
    Dont be afraid of preaching your message to the converted.  
    Libertarians often need to have our core principles put to us    in different ways, or simply reminded of our core principles in    the first place, which sometimes get lost in the academization    of libertarianism. By reading others interpretations or    conveyances of our principles, we can also learn how to more    effective market our ideas.  
    Another common concern libertarian writers often have is that    they have already written an article on a given topic, or that    one of their colleagues wrote one, and thus they feel they    shouldnt do so again or as well.  
    Repackage your previous article. Write it in a different way.    Look at the topic from another angle. Or dont; write it from    the same angle, but in response to a different event. But never    think that it is not necessary to write something just because    it has already been written about, by you or someone else.    Libertarian ideas are not winning or widely known, so it is    fair to say that most people probably have not read about that    topic you think has been exhausted.  
    I left this one for last, as it tends to upset quite a number    of new and even experienced writers.  
    It takes years for columnists to get paid a significant amount     or any amount  of money for writing. You should not set out    to write because you want to get paid  there is an oversupply    of people who want to give their opinions for money. As an up    and coming libertarian writer, you should always humble    yourself, as you are part of an era where sharing your ideas    with virtually everyone else in the world is easier than it has    ever been. Imagine: Your ideas can reach further than the    dictates of kings and dictators just a few hundred years ago.  
    We are all capitalists, and that means we believe that one    shouldnt expect time and effort from someone else with some    kind of reciprocity. However, being capitalists, we also accept    the principle of value subjectivity and reject the labor theory    of value. This means, principally, that other people must value    being able to see your opinion more than they value the amount    the paywall charges. But it also means that you have to value    your time and effort more than you value writing for the    libertarian cause and spreading our ideas. And this, for an up    and coming writer, is not recommended. You should want to write    because you have something meaningful to say and you want to    share it with others.  
    Too many writers have argued that non-monetary payment does not    qualify as payment. To up and coming libertarian writers, the    payment offered by a platform is often the platform itself,    with a potentially massive audience just waiting to be exposed    to your brand and ideas. It is, unfortunately, quite    one-dimensional to perceive payment in currency as the only    valid type of payment. If your problem is putting food on the    table, writing opinion articles might not be the best way to    ensure that happens.  
    Keep at it consistently and develop yourself, and the money    will come eventually.  
    * Disclosure: At the time of writing I was ill with a cold and    sinusitis. Please excuse me if some of my writing here seems    more abrupt than usual.  
      This post was written by Martin van Staden.    
      The views expressed here belong to the author and do not      necessarily reflect our views and opinions.    
            Martin van Staden is the Editor in Chief of Being            Libertarian, the Legal Researcher at the Free Market            Foundation, a co-founder of the RationalStandard.com,            and the Southern African Academic Programs Director at            Students For Liberty. The views expressed in his            articles are his own and do not represent any of the            aforementioned organizations.          
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8 Tips for New and Aspiring Libertarian Writers  The Chief's Thoughts - Being Libertarian