Author: Colin Valentine

Want an interview at Keybridge (or anywhere else)? Write a better cover letter

September 11, 2019 Colin Valentine

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Here at Keybridge, we write. A lot. Press releases, blogs, web content -- you name it, we draft and polish it. Our success depends on communicating clearly. So we're always looking to recruit great writers. And in the hiring process, we put quite a bit of...

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Transform your writing, no magic required

February 1, 2018 Colin Valentine

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Writing may be an art -- but it's not a dark art. No special incantation or secret potion is required to churn out high quality prose. Writers just need to follow a few rules of thumb. 1) Use short sentences. Commas are not your friend. If...

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How to cite statistics in an op-ed

October 18, 2017 Colin Valentine

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An op-ed writer should always strive to substantiate his opinions with facts. If any of those facts aren't immediately obvious or widely known, the writer should generally cite his source. There are two ways to do so. A writer can introduce the fact first, and...

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The Trump guide to query writing

February 14, 2017 Colin Valentine

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Love him or hate him, Donald J. Trump is arguably the world's best query writer. With every Tweetstorm, he captivates the media's attention. That's exactly what a query -- the short "elevator pitch" sent to convince an editor to publish an oped -- should do. Here's...

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Stop writing like a child

September 15, 2016 Colin Valentine

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When I was six years old, I tended to ramble in my speech. Like other kids my age, I had no conception of which details were vital and which weren't. So if you asked me to summarize my day, I'd spend 5 minutes reciting my...

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Push it to the limit . . . with a strong thesis

April 22, 2016 Colin Valentine

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Want to write a New York Times or Wall Street Journal-quality op-ed? First, watch Scarface. The 1983 Brian De Palma classic contains the secret to great op-ed writing within one of the best movie montages of all time. The "Push It to the Limit" mash-up doesn't just...

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Lede all about it: Understand the news cycle to perfect your lede

January 6, 2016 Colin Valentine

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A lede -- the opening hook of an oped -- can make or break a piece's chances for a top placement. Editors demand timely ledes -- but there's no set standard on what's timely and what isn't. Understanding the news cycle can help writers make that...

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How to write like the most interesting man in the world

October 1, 2015 Colin Valentine

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Sharks have a week dedicated to him. He can speak French . . . in Russian. He lives vicariously . . . through himself. He, of course, is the "Most Interesting Man in the World." Although the star of Dos Equis beer commercials is sadly fictional,...

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Don’t beat a dead horse . . . write something original

August 18, 2015 Colin Valentine

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So you want to write about how renewable energy can save the world? Or why exercise is good for you? Or why job growth is important? Great! Just one problem . . . thousands of people have already written about these topics. To catch the...

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Are we experts in all subjects?

June 16, 2015 Colin Valentine

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On a daily basis, we write across a range of subjects, from healthcare to defense to fashion. Are we experts in all these areas? Of course not. So how can we write persuasively about such varied topics? It's simple. Our role at Keybridge isn't to...

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