I do sometimes try to tone-correct by imagining that my smartest and funniest friend is reading a piece. You want to write towards a reader who respects you, even though that’s not always what’s going to happen—you might as well act as if that’s the case, you know? You can always tell when a writer doesn’t respect his or her readers, feels superior to them. I also try to keep an argument tight by asking myself at the end of a draft if somebody who completely disagrees with my politics could still read it and understand that I’m writing honestly. Writing about women’s issues is good for working out that test.

JIA TOLENTINO