Medium Writing Tips You Might Not Know About
If you write on Medium, here are a few tricks I've discovered
I’ve got a thing for doors. And locks. This is a beautiful iron door knocker I discovered on a door on Santorini. Photo by Gary Crow.
When success knocks on your door, will you be too afraid to answer?
Success can be an elusive thing. On more than one occasion I have found myself peeking through the curtains as an opportunity pounded on my door, afraid of how it might change my life.
Here’s the thing I have discovered, though, some of my best opportunities came knocking without my conscious invitation. But when I look back, it’s easy to see that I was working toward those “surprises” all along. Medium has been one of those things for me.
As much as I love freelance writing for publications like Newsweek, Yahoo Travel, and Cruise Critic, the joy I have found in being able to express my thoughts about literally anything on Medium has been something I have always sought out.
Even having my own blog was restrictive in terms of subject.
Anyway, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite tricks on Medium for you. Consider your door knocked.
Where you put your title matters
There’s a specific spot where the title belongs. Miss it and not only will your title look weird (and unprofessional) to readers, it won’t be a clickable link in your profile feed. Here’s what I know about that.
You can get help for stories that bomb
If you write a story and nobody reads it, claps for it, or gives you love in the comments, it’s tempting to blow it off. But if you read it again and really feel it was okay, there’s always hope that it’s some little thing — like maybe the title was in the wrong place. Turn to a group of fellow writers in the publication Story Second Chances. The objective is to publish an explanation of what you think went wrong along with a link. Readers then read both your explanation and your original failed story and can comment — hopefully with helpful advice.
You don’t always need a publication
There’s a little-known thing that sometimes happens if you leave your stories outside of any publication—editors ask you for them. I’ve had it happen several times from small pubs, but also lately from some of the top publications on the platform. There’s not trick, just don’t click “add to publication” before you publish.
You can bring old stories to life with an index pinned to the top of your profile
Back in the old days, some of the top writers on the platform sneakily re-published old stories. Medium has banned that, so no matter what you read, don’t do it. It could potentially get you kicked off. What you can do instead is put your best work in an index. Here’s what I know about that.
That’s all I’ve got for today. Hope you are all safe, warm, and writing your fingers off.
Melinda