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Abstract

vate groups can be awesome. Getting advice from fellow writers before you submit is a great idea. But what we are looking at here are stories that have already gone public. Yes, we are asking you to explicitly open yourself up to public comment but we already do that when we hit the publish button.</p><p id="1f12">Being public and open with our stories and speculating on what makes some stories soar and others simmer allows us to learn from each other. We’ll get to see and share the thought process of other readers and writers.</p><p id="b7b3">Not only does keeping it all in-house on Medium allow a potentially vast audience of writers to access this information, but it also allows the writing energy we put into this project to benefit our Medium standing. We don’t pretend to know how the algorithms work but we do know that time spent commenting here opens us up to more exposure.</p><h1 id="7d46">How do I submit a story?</h1><p id="b283">Choose a story you have already published that hasn’t performed the way you expected or hoped. It can be self-published or in any publication big or small.</p><p id="478d">Recognize that poorly performing is all relative to where you are at in your writing journey. An established writer’s poor performance might be a new writer’s definition of going viral. You are the judge of what is a poor performance so any level of current reads on the story is acceptable.</p><p id="166a">Write a new story introducing the one you want to highlight. You can give it any title and subtitle you like but one option is to use, Revisiting “Insert Original Title Here” and the subtitle “Why didn’t this story take off?”.</p><p id="cd90">In the body of the story give a bit of an introduction to your story and any background you wish to share with the reader before they read it. Feel free to speculate on why you expected it to do well and ask the readers any questions you like.</p><p id="31d4">Insert a link to the original story at the bottom. To do this simply paste the URL at bottom of your new story. Hit return and Medium will do the magic of providing a clickable link with title, subtitle, and feature image.</p><p id="8691">Submit the new story to Story Second Chances using the “Add to Publication” option under the three dots. Read on to learn how to be added as a writer.</p><h1 id="efa3">How do I help other writers?</h1><p id="2c29">We are asking you to comment constructively on at least two stories for every story you submit. Choose a story, read the writer’s notes and then click on the story link at the bottom. Feel free to highlight

Options

and or comment on the original story but don’t forget to come back to the Story Second Chances when you are finished and leave a constructive comment on the story here.</p><h1 id="71d2">How do I write a constructive comment?</h1><p id="d87d">A constructive comment gives the writer useful information about what worked or didn’t work for you as a reader. It can be praise or a suggestion for improvement.</p><p id="a544">Maybe you will read the story and think it is fantastic. If so you’ll leave a comment something like this.</p><ul><li>This was a great read. I don’t know why it didn’t go viral. I especially liked the way you …</li></ul><p id="5138">You might have ideas for improvement. Please remember to share gently and kindly. Here are a few examples of the kind of feedback you might give.</p><ul><li>You had so many great ideas in here. A little bit of formatting would have made it easier for me to follow. Subheadings would have helped a lot.</li><li>You might want to add a personal example or a story illustrating your point. I found it a bit dry.</li><li>This is great, but I’ve seen a lot of stories on this topic lately. I think it’s just overdone.</li><li>I think your title could have been stronger. I loved the story but probably never would have clicked on it based on that title.</li></ul><p id="4f9e">Throwing some genuine praise in with your critique is always appreciated.</p><p id="26bf">This is not the place to be nitpicky or tear someone’s writing apart. You can find that elsewhere. Here the goal is to promote overlooked gems and offer suggestions on how to improve the number of reads you receive.</p><h1 id="e2de">How do I sign up?</h1><p id="9800">Are you ready to dive in and join the grand experiment? Take these steps:</p><ol><li>Follow this publication.</li><li>Comment on this story “Please add me as a writer.”</li><li>Submit a new story with a link inside to the already published story you want to receive a second chance and feedback.</li><li>Choose at least two stories in the publication to read and comment on.</li><li>Repeat steps 3 & 4 as often as you like and spread the word.</li></ol><h1 id="5cb9">Who is the editor of this publication</h1><p id="b8c3"><a href="undefined">Mary DeVries</a> joined Medium in late 2020. She is firmly committed to the idea that cooperation, connection, and lifting up other writers is the way to not only enjoy your time writing on Medium but also the way to grow here.</p><p id="778a">You can sign up for Mary’s newsletter <a href="https://witty-hustler-54.ck.page/7a7228ec80">here</a>.</p></article></body>

How and Why to Join Story Second Chances

Give your story a second shot at fame. Learn from and help others succeed.

Story Second Chances is not your typical publication. We exist to support each other as writers in our shared quest to grow in our ability to reach others with our writing. Keep reading to find out how you can participate.

The elevator pitch

Take one of your already published stories that didn’t perform as well as you thought it should. Write a new post with an introduction to your story and then link to it wherever it is currently published.

Look through Story Second Chances at the stories other writers have posted. Read a few and leave a comment for the writers with constructive praise or suggestions for improvement. Other writers will do the same for your story leading to a positive feedback loop of exposure for all our hidden gems and advice to improve our writing and reach.

Why do we need this publication?

All of us have the experience of writing something we are quite pleased with. It goes live and we wait for the views and reads to flood in but instead receive a trickle of what we expected.

Why?

It could be any number of factors beyond our control. Maybe we could have written or promoted it better. Maybe it just didn’t get seen. Or it might have flaws we didn’t notice.

Yes, the ultimate answer to this problem is to just keep writing and publishing in the knowledge that you will continue to grow and improve your chances of hitting it big with a story in the future.

But what if there was also a chance to give your story another shot at attention and possibly learn something in the process? What if we actively open ourselves up and ask the readers to tell us what more we could have done.

We aren’t just writers here. We are readers too. Let’s help each other speculate on what might have held a story back or help cheerlead an awesome overlooked gem. Let’s be vulnerable and learn from each other.

Isn’t this what private Facebook groups are for?

Private groups can be awesome. Getting advice from fellow writers before you submit is a great idea. But what we are looking at here are stories that have already gone public. Yes, we are asking you to explicitly open yourself up to public comment but we already do that when we hit the publish button.

Being public and open with our stories and speculating on what makes some stories soar and others simmer allows us to learn from each other. We’ll get to see and share the thought process of other readers and writers.

Not only does keeping it all in-house on Medium allow a potentially vast audience of writers to access this information, but it also allows the writing energy we put into this project to benefit our Medium standing. We don’t pretend to know how the algorithms work but we do know that time spent commenting here opens us up to more exposure.

How do I submit a story?

Choose a story you have already published that hasn’t performed the way you expected or hoped. It can be self-published or in any publication big or small.

Recognize that poorly performing is all relative to where you are at in your writing journey. An established writer’s poor performance might be a new writer’s definition of going viral. You are the judge of what is a poor performance so any level of current reads on the story is acceptable.

Write a new story introducing the one you want to highlight. You can give it any title and subtitle you like but one option is to use, Revisiting “Insert Original Title Here” and the subtitle “Why didn’t this story take off?”.

In the body of the story give a bit of an introduction to your story and any background you wish to share with the reader before they read it. Feel free to speculate on why you expected it to do well and ask the readers any questions you like.

Insert a link to the original story at the bottom. To do this simply paste the URL at bottom of your new story. Hit return and Medium will do the magic of providing a clickable link with title, subtitle, and feature image.

Submit the new story to Story Second Chances using the “Add to Publication” option under the three dots. Read on to learn how to be added as a writer.

How do I help other writers?

We are asking you to comment constructively on at least two stories for every story you submit. Choose a story, read the writer’s notes and then click on the story link at the bottom. Feel free to highlight and or comment on the original story but don’t forget to come back to the Story Second Chances when you are finished and leave a constructive comment on the story here.

How do I write a constructive comment?

A constructive comment gives the writer useful information about what worked or didn’t work for you as a reader. It can be praise or a suggestion for improvement.

Maybe you will read the story and think it is fantastic. If so you’ll leave a comment something like this.

This was a great read. I don’t know why it didn’t go viral. I especially liked the way you …

You might have ideas for improvement. Please remember to share gently and kindly. Here are a few examples of the kind of feedback you might give.

You had so many great ideas in here. A little bit of formatting would have made it easier for me to follow. Subheadings would have helped a lot.
You might want to add a personal example or a story illustrating your point. I found it a bit dry.
This is great, but I’ve seen a lot of stories on this topic lately. I think it’s just overdone.
I think your title could have been stronger. I loved the story but probably never would have clicked on it based on that title.

Throwing some genuine praise in with your critique is always appreciated.

This is not the place to be nitpicky or tear someone’s writing apart. You can find that elsewhere. Here the goal is to promote overlooked gems and offer suggestions on how to improve the number of reads you receive.

How do I sign up?

Are you ready to dive in and join the grand experiment? Take these steps:

Follow this publication.
Comment on this story “Please add me as a writer.”
Submit a new story with a link inside to the already published story you want to receive a second chance and feedback.
Choose at least two stories in the publication to read and comment on.
Repeat steps 3 & 4 as often as you like and spread the word.

Who is the editor of this publication

Mary DeVries joined Medium in late 2020. She is firmly committed to the idea that cooperation, connection, and lifting up other writers is the way to not only enjoy your time writing on Medium but also the way to grow here.

You can sign up for Mary’s newsletter here.