MEDIUM
An Easily Overlooked Formatting Feature That Will Blow Your Mind
Give your story a professional look
I’m in my 5th month of writing on Medium and I’ve just discovered this cool new formatting feature. I suppose it’s better late than never.
It’s called a kicker!
What is a Kicker?
A kicker is a small heading that goes above your title and subtitle.
In essence, you can think of it as a label for your story.
It’s almost like naming a file folder. If my story is about travel, it makes sense to have “TRAVEL” as a kicker.
It serves to classify your stories for ease of reference. All of my Travel stories have the same kicker.
Why Do I Need a Kicker?
For the most part, kickers are not required for your stories to be published.
Since I discovered them, I’ve chosen to use them for all my stories.
I feel that it gives a more professional and streamlined look to my catalog of stories. It’s entirely up to the writer.
How do I Add a Kicker?
It’s easy!
- After you’ve given your story a Title and a Subtitle with the proper formatting, push Enter to leave a space above the Title
- Type in your Kicker and format it as a Subtitle
- All of the correct formatting will automatically adjust
- After you’re done, you should see something like this
How do I Format a Kicker?
As far as I know, there’s no hard and fast rule. However, it helps to keep a kicker short. It’s also good to keep a consistent format.
I stick with one to three words.
I also keep them all in caps lock, as it looks a little cleaner to me.
Now that you know all about kickers, will you start using them?
P.S. You can also add a link to your kicker! For my Travel kicker, I’ve added a link to all my Travel stories! Just highlight the kicker and use the menu bar to select the option to add a link. Easy. Wohoo!
If you enjoyed this article and would like to support me, please consider buying me a coffee. Thank you!
Wondering how you can read unlimited Medium stories AND support your favourite writers? All you need to do is sign up for only $5 per month! Click the link below to sign up. I’ll also receive a small commission. Happy reading!