Are you not quite sure what you want to write your column about yet? Well, you’re in luck! Here are some great column topics to draw inspiration from! (Spring 2016 columnist applications for The Hoya are now available here, and due by 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 12.)

Some General Tips:

• Write about a topic you’re familiar with. The best columns are those that focus on something about which the writer has genuine curiosity. Just look at Hoya Historian!
• Make sure your topic is broad enough to span the entire semester, but not so broad that it can become scattered.
• Be CREATIVE! There are some columns that cover topics such as identity or politics that are always good subjects to write about, but sometimes the great column ideas develop from seemingly simplistic ideas, like this one in the Guide about sandwiches. Try to think of a unique idea or have a different take on a topic we’ve already published.
• If you have an idea you’re passionate about, run with it and see where it goes. The sky’s the limit!

For Opinion:

Past themes include identity, advice from seniors, history, medicine and technology, comedy and politics. Other column ideas for this semester could include the upcoming presidential election or looking at President Obama’s last year in office. There are also a ton of ways to analyze topics; the column could review issues from a social, political, historical, statistical, educational or cultural point of view.

• Satire: “Animals Among Us” by Doug Freide
• Identity: “If a Tree Falls” by Grace Smith
• Last semester at Georgetown: “Eighteen Weeks” by Kendall Ciesemier and Camille Squires
• History: “Hoya Historian” by Matthew Quallen
  

For Sports:

Past themes include fantasy football, professional soccer, D.C. area professional sports and men’s college basketball. Sports columnists have the opportunity to delve into deeper analyses of team strategy, unpack the rivalries and controversies within the worlds of both professional and collegiate athletics, make predictions on future trades and match ups and comment on the relationship between sports and popular/social culture.

• D.C. area sports: “Around the District” by Matt Raab
• Sports and social commentary: “Upon Further Review” by Jimmy McLaughlin
• Georgetown sports culture: “Saxa Synergy” by Paolo Santamaria
  

For Guide:

Past themes include music, art, love and dating, studying abroad and the intersection of food and politics. The wide scope of the Guide, which focuses on lifestyle, art, entertainment, music and food, allows for a lot of creative freedom when coming up with column ideas. Other column ideas that will be considered include a creative writing column that features a continuous short story or other creative writing forms. With the online platform, columns that feature weekly music, photography or multimedia will be considered as well.

*Columns in the Guide should aim to tell stories over philosophizing about or analyzing a topic. Stories can be personal, cultural or historical.

• Music and art: “Life in Art” by Dan Kreytak (rotating column)
• Studying abroad: “Letters from Abroad” by Kshithij Shrinath
• Food, culture and politics: “Political Digest” by Katie Berk and David Chardack
  

For Business and Tech:

Past themes include global economic issues and statistics. Future theme ideas could focus on new technologies, advertising and marketing, developing countries or financial markets. Columns should not focus solely on MSB-related news.

• Global economic issues: “By the Numbers” by Gracie Hochberg
  

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