TK Some nice catchy title that also makes me sound smart

Summary

Medium introduces a new feature that uses "TK" as a placeholder in writing, which is highlighted and checked for before publishing to ensure no incomplete sections remain.

Abstract

Medium has implemented a writing aid feature inspired by the journalistic tradition of using "TK" as a placeholder for information that needs to be added later. This feature visually prompts writers with a yellow indicator when "TK" is used, ensuring they remember to return to these points before publishing. The use of "TK" is a deliberate choice, as it is unlikely to appear in normal text, making it easy to spot during the editing process. The article contrasts two writing styles: the efficient, error-free typing of Roger Ebert and the more common, iterative process that involves rewriting and refinement. It suggests that most writers will relate to the latter, which involves a messy drafting process until the piece is finalized. The new Medium feature aims to support this process by helping writers manage placeholders more effectively.

Opinions

The article implies that the majority of writers do not produce a polished draft on their first attempt but rather engage in a process of rewriting and editing.
The use of "TK" as a placeholder is described as a common practice in publishing, which Medium

TK Some nice catchy title that also makes me sound smart

How do you write?

Do you do it like Roger Ebert used to, arriving at the office barely an hour before his deadline, and then type in everything in sequence, no typos, no changes, perfectly on the first go?

Or do you rewrite, move stuff around, leave unfinished strands and abandoned sentences, and keep your story in a constant state of messiness until it barely comes together just a minute before publishing?

Somehow, I bet you’re the latter, not the former.

There’s a publishing tradition of writing TK as a placeholder in your story. Anything that you can’t think of at this moment, or that would require breaking your flow, gets a TK so that you remember to come back to it later. For example:

TK nice title

He reached out to John Lastname TK.

I found this photo in 1978. TK VERIFY

Why TK? The origin is murky, but it is believed to be a version of to come, intentionally spelled out in a different way and capitalized so it is easier to spot and impossible to appear organically in writing. Before publishing, the editor would look over the article to make sure no TKs are left. (Although sometimes they’d miss some.)

Today, we’re launching a feature on Medium that builds on this tradition and we hope helps in your writing process in a small way. From now on, whenever you type in TK, a yellow indicator will appear on the margin, and Medium will warn you if any TKs are left before publishing.

So, TK away! (We won’t tell anyone.)