Don't commit to being a columnist unless you're willing to do it right. Report your behind off, so you have something original and useful to say. Say it in a way that will interest someone other than you, your family and your sources.
I wanted to be a columnist so badly that I took a huge pay cut to leave Forbes, which wouldn't give me a column, and join Newsday, which wanted my column for its Sunday business section.
Report, report, report. Dig, dig, dig. Think, think, think. Don't stop being a reporter because you've become a columnist.
Teamwork is better than isolation, especially for a columnist.
Go for the gold: better one great column and some undistinguished ones than constant mediocrity.
Writing 'Animal Talk' column in MetroPlus gave me immense satisfaction. I quite enjoyed writing the column.
My dad was a sports writer when I was younger and then he became just a general columnist. But I grew up with him literally getting into brawls with football coaches.
The editorial page is where you'll find our opinions, while the letters columns and the space for Op-Ed contributors are a forum for debate and discussion.
If a columnist writes that something happened on a certain date, or that the government spent a certain amount of money on something, or that a specific number of people have died in the war in Iraq, to pick a few examples, it is his or her responsibility to make certain that information is correct.
I got offered 'Black Mirror,' and my boyfriend and I were so excited. I used to read Charlie Brooker's column growing up.
