A Goodreads user asked Jennifer Weiner:

How did you get started writing Op-eds and what motivated you? It is so exciting to see someone opining about real women's issues in the NYT!

Jennifer Weiner Opinion writing is actually a return to my roots: all through college, and then when I was a newspaper reporter, I was writing columns. What happened with the Times was serendipity. My Nanna moved into an assisted-living home and was struggling to fit in. After a phone call with her, I tweeted, "Can't believe there are mean girls in my Nanna's retirement home." A Times editor saw the tweet and said, "You have to write about this." So I did, and the piece was well received, and the editors asked me to write more, and here we are. I love having an outlet for my thoughts about family and feminism and beauty and body issues and it's nice to have a balance between the real world and make-believe.

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