WRITING

10 Writing Tips I’ve Learned Here Over The Past Year (Which Has Been Oh So Dear)

An open letter to me and you, and especially to those who are new

When I think back over this past year of writing and publishing my stories on Medium, I can hardly believe the growth I’ve had- as a human being, creator, woman, biracial person, writer and professional.

There are a few people I know who have joined Medium within this past year, along with many others I don’t know, whom I think could benefit from things that I’ve learned throughout the year.

This is my “open letter”, with my most important “lessons learned”, to everyone who writes for Medium, in hopes that at least some people will benefit from it.

Dear Everyone Who Writes and Publishes On Medium,

May you be well.

I wrote and published my first story on November 27, 2020.

There is a huge difference in how I write, format, use photos and fonts, as well as links.

1 Nothing was in bold, nor italicized. It looks more interesting and provides readers with more variety when words are in bold or italicized.

2 I wrote everything in chunk paragraphs. This can be good, depending on the story and preference. However, again, variety helps. Breaking up paragraphs makes certain writing easier for readers to read.

3 After joining the Medium Partner Program on September 29, 2021, I went back to all of my old stories and included links for people to become a member, but it looked like this:

• To put a smile on my face and yours- Sign up to become a member on Medium using my referral link: https://klsimmons.medium.com/membership

not this:

Become a member:

Which do you think looks better?

I learned that I can copy and paste the link to my referral page in a new line, next to the “+” sign, hit enter and voila! The nice box appears, making the link to my referral page more personable.

4 The above 3 dots is something I started using late in the game as well. It helps to shift or pivot a story. I like to use them as pauses or for emphasis in stories as well. It’s up to each writer.

5 Read a wide variety of writers to help get ideas for writing styles, perspective, engagement and support. The best writers tend to read a lot as well.

6 I used to only use my photos. Then I used mainly photos from Unsplash. I just started using photos from Pexels. It’s nice to change up photos because there can be an oversaturation of certain ones. Yet again, variety helps readers stay interested- in Medium as a platform, and your stories.

7 Become a writer for at least one publication from which you like to read other writers. I listed my favorite 3 publications in the following story:

8 In the story above, I linked 3 of my personal favorite stories from my collection, as well as 3 stories that are most popular on Medium.

9 One of the best surprises I’ve discovered about Medium is the wonderful sense of community that I’ve found here. For my birthday, I gave a “shout out” to my 9 favorite writers on Medium. A couple are people whom I know personally.

If you read something by another writer that inspired you, give them a shoutout! That is something I only started doing over the past month or so. Others have tagged me in shout outs as well. It’s always a nice surprise. However, be careful with “top writers”. From what I’ve read, some are weird about this due to those who are trying to use them for their popularity.

10 Always give credit where credit is due! Make sure to include sources via a link, embed or write it out. That includes photos, quotes and ideas. Sometimes I like to include a person’s response in one of my stories. I make sure that I tag the person and put their response in quotes, so that they know.

You tag a person by typing: @…. followed by their Medium handle. For example, Wanda S is now tagged in this post. I clicked on her name after typing @…. and it now appears as a Teal color. As opposed to simply added a link to someone’s profile, like Joel A. Johnson.

If you add a link to the person’s name, they are not notified. Joel A. Johnson would only be notified that he is in my story if I tag him.

There are more tips and suggestions that I have for writers, but I think that these 10 are enough for now.

Please feel free to add your own for others, including me, to learn.

Most importantly, ask questions!

Many writers here, such as myself, are very happy to help.

Become a member:

Buy me books: