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I’m more or less constantly looking for interesting news items and data that might make for a good column, and archiving it. On the day one is due, I look at the news to see what might make an impact that day, sketch out a rough outline of how the argument should go, and just start writing.

think about what your readers know — and what they don’t. There are a lot of simple points that can be revelatory to even well-informed readers, but you have to convey them without either jargon or condescension.

you need some entertainment value — a hook to reel them in at the beginning, a stinger at the end so they know what they’ve learned.

One thing that helps, I’ve found, is to give the writing a bit of a forward rush, with a kind of sprung or syncopated rhythm, which often involves sentences that are deliberately off center.

the inherent stuffiness of the subject demands, almost as compensation, as conversational a tone as I can manage.