How Not to Write an Op-Ed (or Errors Made My 1st Time Out)

By Charles G. Thompson

I have written and published a number of nonfiction pieces. A personal essay about seeing my dead father shopping at Trader Joes. Another essay about my love life as a gay man in Los Angeles. An article about how my perpetual depression lessened during COVID. But, until recently, I had not tried my hand at an op-ed. Yes, similar to writing more personal nonfiction, but different.

The idea for the editorial was spawned by a headline in the Los Angeles Times, “Growi...