How To Write for Overthinking It

Overthinking It has a constant need for guest articles. We have a staff of ten, of which six contribute articles regularly. And often the real world gets in the way. This isn’t our day job; it doesn’t even pay cash money.

But it does get us some indie intellectual cred in that shrieking maelstrom called The Internet. And if you want a piece of that action, send us an article!

How To Overthink (Basic Edition)

1. Take a familiar piece of popular culture.
2. View it through an unexpected lens.
3. Draw some interesting conclusions.

That’s it!

Some examples:

• Examining “Glee” (familiar) through the lens of feudal societies (unexpected) to determine who’s really in charge of the high school (interesting): Sue Giveth and Sue Taketh Away;
• Examining X-Men villain Magneto (familiar) through the lens of molecular physics (unexpected) to determine the source of Magneto’s powers (interesting): The Alumnium Conundrum;
• Examining Lena’s pop hit “Satellite” (familiar) through the lens of Newtonian physics (unexpected) to determine the pattern of Lena’s hypothetical orbit (interesting): Newtonian Inconsistencies in Lena’s ‘Satellite’;

Do all Overthinking It guest articles have to fit that template? Not at all! But if you’re struggling to determine what we’re looking for, that’s probably a good place to start. Want to know more?

How to Overthink (Advanced Edition)

1. Take a familiar piece of pop culture.

The pop in question doesn’t need to be wildly popular. But it should be something that a broad audience can recognize. More importantly, it needs to be something that the typical reader would think they have a handle on.

“Oh, yeah, Transformers: The Movie. Optimus Prime dies; Megatron turns into Galvatron; the giant robot eats planets. Gotcha.”

2. View it through an unexpected lens.

This is where the Overthinking It magic starts. We apply a serious means of critique – textual analysis, looking for repeated images or symbols, application to a broader culture – to something that most of us would consider frivolous.

If pop culture is what you soak up after school, we examine it with the tools we picked up in school. That’s the core of what makes us unique.

“If we look at these elements from Transformers: The Movie – none of which are trivial – we see some similarities between ancient Earth culture’s notions of female divinity.”

3. Draw some interesting conclusions.

This is where most guest submissions get tripped up, to be blunt. It’s not hard to interpret a piece of pop culture with an impressive sounding critique. You could pull pieces of paper out of two different hats. “A Freudian reading of … Jurassic Park! A Marxist reading of … The Big Bang Theory! The Struggle for Nietzschean Overman in … Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place! BAM!”

What we insist on, however, is not only that you back your claim up with good reasoning, but that you draw some conclusions from it. If what you say is true, then what does that mean? If there really is a hidden Nietzschean subtext in Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place, how should we interpret Ashley dating Nomar Garciaparra in Season 3?

Parts 1 and 2 are where we need you to be grounded, detail-oriented and committed to proving your case. Part 3, where you draw some interesting conclusions, is where you can reach a little.

“The use of ‘the Matrix of Leadership’ demonstrates that Transformers: The Movie subscribes to the matriarchal notions of divinity, death and rebirth that defined Kabbalistic and Sumerian cultures. Ka-BLAM!”

FAQ

Q: You guys rejected my submission and pointed out a few things that you’d like me to [add to / clean up]. Is that just your way of politely telling me no?
A: No! If we suggest places that the article could be changed, then what we mean is “change these and we’ll look at it again.” We’re not being coy. Resubmitting the article with those edits is no guarantee, but it vastly improves your chances.

Q: You guys rejected my submission outright. Should I eat drain cleaner and die?
A: Absolutely not! For one, that’s terrible. For another, just because a given piece doesn’t work for us doesn’t mean we won’t take your stuff in the future. Some of our guest authors face several rejections for every one piece that gets through.

Q: I pitched this hilarious article to [Cracked / McSweeneys / The Onion / Uproxx / another humor blog] and they rejected it. You guys want it?
A: Probably not! First, our tone is tricky to hit on, so it’s unlikely that a piece intended for another audience will suit us. Second, while lots of our articles are funny (we hope), we never set out to be funny. The humor arrives from the straight-faced tone with which we approach the subject. And the cleverly captioned images. And third, those guys pay and we don’t. We’d hate to disappoint you.

Q: Does my article have to fit the Familiar + Unexpected + Interesting format?
A: Not at all! But if this is your first time writing for us, you may find it easier. If you want to script a conversation between HALO‘s Master Chief and Metroid‘s Samus Aran on the merits of a volunteer army vs. private contractors, staged like Wagner’s Ring Cycle, go for it! But whatever you do, don’t skimp on the Interesting.

Q: How should I solicit my article?
A: Pitch us the idea first. If we say we’re interested, shoot us a 2000-word draft.

Q: Does it have to be 2000 words?
A: We feel that 1500-2000 words is a sweet spot for our articles – longer than a blog post, shorter than a New Yorker article. It can be fewer than 1500 words if it’s heavy on rich media content, like Excel charts or Photoshopped images. It should almost never be longer.

Q: What format should the article be in?
A: .doc format, please.

Q: Should I attach images that I want to use?
A: Please! Attach any images that you’d like the article to use to the e-mail that you use to submit it. You can indicate in the text where you think these images should go (in [brackets like this]), but we may ignore those suggestions at our discretion.

Q: Do I have to include images?
A: Your article submission should include one image that’s 1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels tall. That’s the banner image for the rotating carousel at the top of the main page. If you don’t include it, we may not put your article in the carousel. And then everyone will be sad.

Q: What do I get out of this?
A: Sadly, we can’t pay you anything, as this website barely breaks even. But you’ll get published on a widely read pop culture blog that gets at least 100K visit every month. Plus, we’ll also give you a link back – which is the CURRENCY OF THE FUTURE – to your blog or website of choice.

Q: I am inspired! Where do I send my pitch to?
A: Use the Contact Form!

Q: Oh crap, I ended that with a preposition. It should have been “to where do I send my pitch?” Do you still love me?
A: Of course we do.