- Opinated style of writing — a piece reflects ideas of a writer
- Different kinds: lifestyle, advice, sports, humor, politics, religion, niche, etc.
- Typically, columnists have a standing column and write material as often as the paper is published or on specific days of the week
- Columnists should be experts in their topics so they stay informed and know what they are talking about
- Humor Columnist
- Dave Barry
- Poke fun at day to day life, things accepted by society, funny scenarios that happened to them, etc.
- Usually relates to a shared human experience
- May comment on topics in the news or topics relevant to the community they are writing for
- Lifestyle Columnist
- Share parts of their lives with the reader who may not have experienced such a thing in their own life (living homeless, divorce, etc.)
- The goal is to inspire or educate the reader (and sometimes just entertain)
- Should relate to the reader or point to some universal idea humans can all understand
- Political Columnist
- Have the difficult job of making sense of politics and commenting in a logical way without driving away too many readers who may hold differing opinions
- Sports Columnist
- Writes about why games went the way they went, how the team will perform now that so-and-so is gone, which rookie is the one to snag up, etc.
- Sports and scandals
- Sports fanatic
- Advice Columnist
- Gives advice and sometimes answers questions from the readers
- Dear ______,
- Expert in topics they give advice about
- Religion Columnist
- Take a stab at tackling a very heated and debated topic
- Some use humor, try to spread beliefs, make sense of traditions, etc.
- Metro Columnist
- Writes about what is going on within the local community
- Niche Columnist
- Customized columns for a specific audience
- Gardening columns, teacher, motorcycle, tv shows, etc.
- Personal experiences, recommendations, tricks, tips, and horror stories
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