Editor’s Picks — Top 10: Smart Thinking in Smart Sentences Makes You a Good Writer

Reading smart writers makes you smart

Your reader doesn’t want to read mediocre thinking packaged in ordinary sentences. She wants to read smart sentences and information that can solve her problems.

What is this smart thinking that readers are looking for in your stories? How can you incorporate it into your writing?

What is smart thinking?

Matthew Allen defines smart thinking in his book of the same name: “knowing how to:

• work out and express your main ideas
• plan your presentation of ideas so that they can be clearly understood
• check to see if you have covered all the important parts of your topic
• establish a structure in which your basic facts and evidence make sense
• present ideas by linking them together to convince readers of your conclusion.”

You must support your thoughts with well-researched information. Your smart thinking should produce a clear and understandable article.

Benefits of Smart thinking

‘Smart thinking’ can help you in:

• where and how to look for the required information
• connecting the information with your story
• identifying when you must find out more information to make your point.

Smart thinking helps you to evaluate the preferences of your readers:

• understand the needs and expectations of your readers
• to determine your style and voice for one specific piece of writing
• to see if your views are not biased or against what the society wants to read or learn

The glue of smart thinking and smart writing is reasoning. How you present the similarities or differences and how you make connections between different thoughts.

How to write a smart sentence

You can convert any sentence into a smart one if you can find a reason or a similarity or difference. Look at this sentence:

“Sometimes, a writer has to express views that will be against the popularly held beliefs of a society.” — Ordinary

“The writer creates new meanings.” — Smart

and this one:

“Sometimes, when you are working really hard, you get tired, but after a small break you become ready to work for another hour.” — Ordinary

“A five-minute break boosts your ability to work hard.” — Smart

Here is the list of the top 10 writers who wrote one smart sentence at a time and kept writing until they wrote a masterpiece:

10. Editor’s Picks — Top 10: The Worst Enemy to Creativity Is Self-Doubt

Today Medium staff chose this list to distribute to their readers — as writing advice. It’s the proof of Dr Mehmet Yildiz’s leadership to inspire this Top 10 series. It is good news for all the writers whose stories were picked.

Victor Hugo said, “Not being heard is no reason for silence”.

What if you started a political party? You had a plan, you wanted to meet people, and you wanted to tell them about their rights. But at the first meeting, not many people turn up. Would you stop saying what you believed? Would you quit your dream of changing the status quo?

9. I’ve Been a Vegetarian for 6 Years and This is What I Learned

Diana Bernardo is a former journalist who loves to write about travel, work, and life lessons. Her style is simple, direct, and engaging. Do check her other work as well.

We were approaching the end of 2014. Two of my best friends had recently become vegan. They started talking to me about their experience and the reasons that led them there. I listened. I followed their suggestions and watched some documentaries. I saw things that I can not unsee ever again. And in the space of a few weeks I got more and more convinced that me too, I needed to make a change.

I realized that I had been numb for the first 27 years of my life. I hadn’t asked the right questions, I hadn’t challenged what the world presented to me. Eating animals is an option that doesn’t make any sense from an ethical point of view. Then why had I never questioned it? Why hadn’t most of the world?

8. Clerical Celibacy is Poisonous

Cecily Lawless is an excellent new writer. Her style is engaging and direct. Let’s read her story.

Let’s get the first bit out of the way quickly: yes, I was a priest’s mistress; no, it didn’t go great; no, he’s not a priest anymore; yes, it’s my fault; no, we’re not living happily-ever-after; no, I didn’t lose my faith as a result. All set? Let’s go.

First, let me clarify: I am not a theologian or a church historian and I do not intend to argue against clerical celibacy on intellectual terms. Nor do I have experience of being a priest (obviously) and only have a glancing, second-hand understanding of the pressures involved in the position: I will not attempt to tell my ex-boyfriend’s story except as it touched mine. I also do not intend to address the child abuse scandal. I speak as a layperson who was affected by clerical celibacy with a particular but limited perspective.

7. From Multimillionaire to FBI’s Most Wanted to Charitable Christian

Kevin Buddaeus is on a mission to grow and learn with his readers. He is an editor of Illumination and he is a professional editor. His style is simple, direct, and informative. If you haven’t followed him already, here is your chance to read and follow him.

Seldom does this idiom provoke a life story like the one you’re about to hear? Florian Homm was once known as one of the 300 richest Germans alive. He was managing his own Hedge fund worth over $3 billion. His private wealth was estimated at around $700 million.

He became a person of public interest when he saved the German football club Borussia Dortmund from bankruptcy, investing $20 million into the club when all other investors kept a safe distance. At the pinnacle of his success, he had it all: Women, wealth, cars, houses, yachts, private jets.

6. Mixed Signals and Quirky Body Language

Gayle Kurtzer-Meyers is a positive thinking freelance writer. She is a wonderful writer. If you read this story, you’ll probably check her other work and then you’ll become her lifelong fan.

Whether we’re talking to our children, friends, or coworkers, the way we use our body and facial expressions become part and parcel of the signals we are sending out. With more than 250,000 facial expressions available to us, there’s an endless expanse of potential messages someone can pick up on through what we don’t say.

The unique aspect of nonverbal behavior is that we don’t realize what kind of messages we’re sending out. Even if they’re strangers or children who have yet to develop their social skills fully, other people are better judges of what our nonverbal behavior says about us than we are.

5. Why You Should Try Slow Reading

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

Reading purely for enjoyment, absorbing and savoring words seems to be being replaced with a need to simply consume information. On an increasing number of websites, there are estimates of how long a piece will take you to read. Book summary apps are immensely popular. I keep reading articles about ‘How I read x number of books a year/month/week’.

4. 5 Actions You Can Take To Add New Positive Influences Into Your Life

Rob Cyrier is an excellent writer and a family man. He loves technology. But in this great article, he is telling us to mend our ways. Don’t miss this one.

When you make an effort to live your life more consciously, you start noticing things are literally sucking the life right out of you.

You wake up out of your subconscious slumber, take a look around, and wonder how in the world you got yourself into certain situations.

3. What I Learned From a Year Dedicated to Writing a Novel

Luke Beling lives in Hawaii and finds joy in his stories. He is a superb writer and he is sharing with you his personal experiences. If you read this story, you are definitely going to read his other work as well.

I began 2020 with a simple mission: write a novel. I settled on a manageable word count per day (250) and started a story that had long been brewing under the surface. I’m a short-term goals oriented type of person. It’s difficult for me to stay with projects, ideas, or pursuits that span over months. I like to get things done immediately, then move onto the next task. Writing a novel wasn’t only out of my comfort zone; it was out of my universe.

“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way…”

2. The Surprising Lessons that Buddhism and Cynicism Can Teach You About Being Present and Happy

At number two, it’s Sebastian Purcell, Ph.D. He is a philosopher and a happiness researcher. His style is friendly, focused, and compelling. You should check his other work if you like this one. Brilliance shines through his pieces, from start to end.

One of the paradoxes of life is that to be happier you don’t have to get more stuff or do new things. You only have to live the life you already have and be more fully present in it. I can give you a story to explain.

After planning for more than a decade, my wife and I finally travelled to St. Lucia in the Caribbean. While there, we thought to visit one gorgeous waterfall. The problem?

Everyone else had the same idea.

1. The Frustratingly Simple Reason Why Black People Voted For Trump

At number one, you have to read Steve QJ’s unique insights to know why many black people voted for Trump. Steve QJ is a rising star of Medium. You must check his other work.

Last month, I wrote an article about the Left’s failure to understand Trump’s popularity. While it was generally well-received, some people couldn’t get behind the central premise, namely that Trump’s supporters couldn’t all be dismissed as a bunch of racist, amoral bigots.

It’s not difficult to see where they’re coming from. Trump counts people like David Duke, the Proud Boys, and even the Taliban among his supporters. Trump himself was sued for discriminating against African-American tenants, described Mexicans as criminals and rapists, and was a leading voice in the racist “Birther” movement, which essentially questioned whether a black man should be considered an American at all.

Final Thoughts

If your story was selected as one of the Top 10, please share another one of your stories in the comments with a brief introduction and a short review that can convince a reader to read your piece. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. Dr Mehmet Yildiz, the Chief Editor and Founder of Illumination and Illumination-Curated, read, highlighted, and applauded every good story when he started his publications. He still reads almost all of the good ones. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the masterpieces.

Dr Mehmet Yildiz has kindly allowed our top 10 series a full shelf on the front page of Illumination-Curated and Illumination:

So, help me. Help me to find and rank the best work of the writers of Illumination and Illumination-Curated.

If you think you are an excellent writer, leave a link to your best work in the comments.

Happy reading.

You can read my curated stories here.