Editor’s Choice — Top 10: The Stories You Must Read

Picking the best stories from Illumination today

Writing is a process of evolving consciously. You want to share your insights with other good writers.

After Medium pulled the plug on its curation program, Dr Mehmet Yildiz — the Chief Editor and founder of Illumination wanted all of the editors to spotlight the quality work — and I decided to create the daily list of top 10 articles from Illumination and Illumination-Curated.

To motivate Illumination writers as an editor, I read several stories every day to select the best. These are the stories you must not skip and skim but read thoroughly.

Here is a list of the top 10 selected stories to improve your craft:

10. Fight For Art: How to Overcome Resistance Like a Pro

Isaiah McCall wrote this piece in a way that totally makes sense. I am sure most of you missed it — here is an opportunity to learn more about how to be creative from someone who knows what he is talking about.

The devastating truth of the matter is there will always be something in the way of our success. There will always be something we have to consciously, and uncomfortably push past in order to win. There will always be resistance.

9. How To Develop Open-Mindedness

Amanze Collins wrote this masterpiece but you must have missed it.

A study conducted at the University of Melbourne revealed that open-minded people perceive a completely different reality from that experienced by those with a closed mind. Through a binocular rivalry exercise in which several images are presented per eye, the researchers found that people with an open mind can combine both images, while those who are not sufficiently open-minded can only process one image at a time.

8. You Need To Change How You Value Talent

Jessica Donahue, PHR is the author of this great story. You must have missed it but this piece gives you a distinct perspective of the employer and employee relationship.

In a recent white paper, the World Economic Forum detailed this shift and said, “a resetting of strategy and metrics that value talent as an asset rather than an expense is critical for companies under pressure to operate more efficiently, build resilience and create value from their workforce investments.”

7. Why You Need to Know About Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation comes from within you. Markus Skårnes’s brilliant advice is something to be bookmarked. You have missed it but once you read it, you’d want to read more from Markus Skårnes.

What would you rather your motivation be dependent on; your own joy in the process, or external rewards? In this article, I’ll teach you about different types of motivation and what you can do to ensure your motivation doesn’t rely on anything but yourself.

6. How to Be a Great Writer — Learn from Great Musicians

Gary McBrine presents a thoroughly enjoyable comparison. Don’t miss it now if you have not read it already.

I remember when I first started to learn the guitar. Other siblings in my family also wanted to play, so they too bought guitars. Unfortunately, they didn’t continue. They didn’t practice enough. I continued to work through the sore fingers and learned to play. My guitar has been my life-long friend ever since.

5. The Truth About Our Own Ignorance, the Lies We Tell Ourselves, and the Meaning of Real Wisdom

This four-minute read by Dawn Bevier is an eye-opener for all of us. A rare piece written with more emotions than most people can pour into their writing.

One of the greatest areas of our ignorance concerns our own identity and personality. We foolishly judge others and delude ourselves into believing that when it comes to the vast majority of humans, we have the intellectual and moral “high ground.”

4. How to Get More Out of Social Media as a Content Creator

Kevin Lee is a lover of life and coffee. You must have missed this piece, but it will help you optimize your social media experience as a writer.

After spending some time on all the social media outlets, I’ve come to the realisation that they don’t serve me equally. Perhaps the same is true for you.

To me, most of them are pure distraction and noise. And a select few are more targeted and focused on the type of content I want to create. The differences and nuances of each platform make some more appropriate than others.

3. Are Books Getting Longer?

Jason Ward wrote this gem. If you missed it, here is an opportunity to undo that.

According to a survey by the publisher Flipsnack, books have been growing fairly consistently.

The survey looked at 2515 books that had appeared on the New York Times bestseller and notable books list as well as an annual survey of Google’s most discussed books. It found that between 1999 and 2014 the average book length grew from 320 pages to 400 pages.

2. Want to Improve Your Writing?

MaryJo Wagner, Ph.D.’s piece is about William Zinsser’s writing advice. MaryJo is somebody you would love to read again.

Zinsser tells you how to write without being rule-bound, stuffy, and boring. And he tells stories along the way so you’re learning while being entertained. (More writers should follow this style!) He gives you basic principles and methods in addition to how to write in specific genres: interviews, travel articles, memoirs, science and technology, business writing, sports, the arts, and even humor.

1. Why You Should Write Your Story, Even If You Think Others Won’t Get It

At number one, Roger A. Reid, Ph.D. is talking about writing your mind. I know I’ll be writing much more after reading this article.

Every reader is different, with different levels of experience, education, and intelligence. And each person will evaluate the quality of what they read based on what’s going on in their life at that moment in time. For some, it will be precisely what they need to read. Others will be bored to tears.

Final Thoughts

I cannot read every story that is published in Illumination and Illumination-Curated. I must have missed some great stories. To help me out, please suggest your selected stories in the comments. I would love to add them to my daily list of top 10 in the future.

Happy exploring.

To improve your odds of success as a writer, read these curation guidelines.

You can read my curated stories here.