What made My Article Publishable?

I failed two times to publish my first article until I followed these three tips.

Expert writers keep an eye on good writing platforms so do the new ones. I knew about medium a year ago and searched out the versatility in the articles published here. Huge fan following of some publications made me curious to think that is it due to the quality of writers or quantity of articles published. I was amazed to see a writer like Tim Denning. I was convinced by his creativity. My interest in personal grooming urged me to look into articles related to personal development, ethics learning, communication skills, and motivation to get up after every downfall.

I always wanted to share my thoughts publicly. I started reading and implementing learning on me. Whenever I felt despondent and demotivated I bent towards reading articles. I felt writers were speaking to my thoughts. My desire to share my thoughts led me towards writing emotions. I was shy at the start. English not being my native language was the biggest hurdle. I had many ideas to write upon. I was good at making a story from my real-life incidents. Reading made me capable of transferring my emotions into writing. The only hurdle was to take initiative and write.

Why couldn’t I start it early?

I was overwhelmed by thoughts of being rejected. It would have made me upset at the start. These negative self-created vibes kept me at bay from being a writer until I read the following lines from the article The Advantage of Self-Criticism by Annabelle.

“I noticed that the harsher I was at putting myself down about my writing skills, the more I strayed from my dream of being an author. If we simply identify issues without solutions for improvement, we get nothing but dispirited.”

I learnt that for a new writer it’s natural to have negative thinking. Not everyone is trained. This is the beauty of a human brain that it develops. It can polish innate skills.

How I took the initiative?

I believe in taking advice. One day I discussed it with my friend. He raised a valid point. I was in a hurry to publish my first article in Medium publications. I wanted to be the best at the start. It wasn’t a good idea and I was overwhelmed by it. A friend gave me a nice suggestion. He asked me to start writing and publishing an article on my wall instead of sending to publication. This way I will not feel down. I will not be rejected. Whatever I write, will be published. My audience will not be large in the start and I can get confidence once I get flow. WoW. I said ecstatically to myself and it worked as an appetizer. This can also be the best approach to start for many readers of my story.

What topic did I choose for the first article?

I was good at making fictional stories but it wasn’t time to write on that. English writing skills were still a problem. I was working as a mentor for scholarship aspirants. Whenever students asked me to help in writing their statements for the application I had to give them the same tips. It knocked my mind. I started writing tips for those statements. After that whenever someone asks me how to write study objective for Fulbright scholarship I share them my first article. I am surprised to see the statistics. That article has been read by over 11k people. It boosted my confidence. It was in simple English. I didn’t use hot vocabulary words. Since after my first publication on my medium wall I didn’t stop to write. It gave me a good start.

Did I make it to publication?

Getting a hundred followers ought to be a boon for me. I decided to write for some publication. I had lifted myself with confidence. But I become a victim of overconfidence. I made a mistake. I aimed to join the leading horse of this race. I started searching for the top medium publication. I targeted P.S I Love You. I submitted two articles in it and were rejected by the editor. I was disappointed once again. I kept overthinking. I will highly recommend new writers not to self criticise you by following misthinks.

Maybe I am not good at writing.

May be my ideas are not coherent.

Maybe my choice of topics is not worthy.

Maybe I am not made for writing.

It is good to ask these questions in a constructive way to improve your writing. Replace ‘Maybe’ with ‘Why’ and think again. It will change your tune from misthinks to creative thinking.

Why I am not good at writing.

Why aren’t my ideas are coherent.

Why my choice of topics is not worthy.

Why ain’t I made for writing.

How did I make it to the publication?

It was hard to fight with those thoughts but I did. I went to the past. I remembered my friend’s approach. What he suggested to me for writing my first article I implemented the same here. I also answered above-mentioned questions to myself. I found the fault. Now, I chose some other publication to write for. Previously I was targeting publications having a maximum number of followers. This time I went for content matching to my writing style. Content-wise my articles weren’t a fit for that publication. It wasn’t good to go for a fan following. I chose those publications matching to my article content and sent requests to be added as a writer. It worked. I got my first article Being a parent this is how I will raise my child published in Interfaith Now and the second article, Two Tips for an International Traveler to Be at Peace in publication Change Becomes You. I enjoyed those moments. It was a great achievement for me. All the hard work and lessons learnt weren’t in vain.

Why am I writing this article?

I wanted to share my way of publishing the first article on Medium to save many from struggling as I did.

Three tips.

1- Don’t push yourself for immediate Publications.

2- Publish some articles on your wall. Get the confidence and make your profile stronger.

3- It is time to choose the Publications based on your interest. Don’t rush towards making followers.