Write a guest post!
The only real requirements are creativity, open-mindedness, and a willingness to say shite on regional or international affairs that can't be said elsewhere
Junotane is now open to guest posts!
The only real requirements are creativity, open-mindedness, and a willingness to say shite on regional or international affairs that can’t be said elsewhere.
If you’re tired of reading repetitive dribble on Foreign Affairs and they rejected your last submission because you didn’t toe the line, then all the better. If you’re tired of hearing the speaking-head claptrap on CNN and know they’re spinning shite, then all the better. Be daring, upset people, and challenge the mainstream.
Your post will reach a bevy of eager subscribers and also at least two very angry readers—one who will accuse you of being too pro-American and the other who will accuse you of being too pro-Chinese—no matter what you write. Middle power life!
All that it requires is around 800 words and a short bio intro with any links you want put down. If you’re keen, don’t hesitate to contact me!
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A writing guide…
The writing on this site is pretty weird cos it sits somewhere between an op-ed, an essay, and a conversation. It is not a newspaper column adhering to standards, a think tank report seeking bureaucratic approval, or an academic article written for specialists. It borrows from all three, but ultimately is something very different.
The article should feel like sitting across from someone in a pub, they’re on their second porter, and they’re explaining an idea that’s been bugging them for some time. The tone is personal, analytical, and sometimes skeptical, cynical, and always questioning of conventional thinking.
The purpose is not simply to express an opinion. Everyone has opinions. The challenge is to help readers see something differently.
The writing itself should be clear, direct, and conversational. Complex ideas are welcome; complicated language is not. If a sentence sounds like it belongs in a conference paper, change it. Go with the pub test. Engage with difficult ideas but remember the bozo at the bar you’re talking to needs help to understand the idea.
So, don’t write in an institutional voice. Readers should know there’s a person behind the words. Everything in international relations and politics comes down to individuals and the f$%@#d up standards in most academic blogs means that the individual is lost. The whole sh%t show is in the end about humans, so curiosity, humour, scepticism, frustration, cynicism and surprise all have a place.
Personality matters because readers are not simply engaging with information; they are engaging with a perspective. The goal is not to sound authoritative. It is to sound thoughtful. Don’t let your voice disappear. Let it out to serve the argument.
A few general pieces of advice for those not used to op-ed writing:
The peg. Begin with a puzzle rather than a thesis. It might be a strange event, a contradictory policy, a historical anecdote, an offhand remark, or something that simply does not seem to fit the conventional explanation. The opening should create curiosity. An article that begins with a puzzle feels like an invitation to read.
The argument. You’ve only got 800 words so it makes sense to revolve it around a single central idea. Readers should be able to explain the argument in one sentence after finishing the article. Everything else should support that idea. One of the hardest disciplines in writing is deciding what to leave out. Interesting tangents, secondary arguments, and additional examples often weaken a piece rather than strengthen it. Clarity usually comes from exclusion.
The relevance. End by explaining why the argument matters. A conclusion should do more than summarize what has already been said. It should return to the peg (the first paragraph) and widen the lens. If the argument is correct, what follows? What does it suggest about politics, diplomacy, society, or the future? Readers should leave with something to think about rather than simply a recap of the article they have just read.
Now of course, you can go through the blog and find dozens of articles where I deviate from my own advice. That’s cos I mostly write on the bus or subway on an iphone and sometimes I’m not sitting down and I get sweaty and frustrated.
Still, I always try to make articles feel less like lectures and more like conversations. I try to leave readers with the sense that they have not merely been told something, but that they have been shown a different way of looking at the world. Give it a go! Contact me!