Writing with Grandma
How to Format Your Pinned Index / Table of Content
With examples inside
Many writers use the pinned article functionality to share an index of their work. It’s a great way to “help” potential readers find your best articles or the ones you want them to read first.
Some writers use it to share lists of their stories, and others directly share links to their stories. (I recommend the latter.)
Today, we will take the example of Medium’s stoic, James Bellerjeau.
His current table of content is called “What You’ll Find Here,” which is a great title, but the presentation is awful.
Look for yourself by clicking here or by looking at the screenshot below:
James’ index is a long list of lists nobody wants to click on.
Why?
- There are too many of them
- The format is not attractive (not James’ fault)
- And it’s tedious for potential readers.
Regarding point 3, to read one of James’ stories, a reader needs to:
- Click #1 to land on James’ profile
- Click #2 on James’ “What You’ll Find Here”
- Choose one of the lists (boring)
- Click #3 on one of the lists
- Choose one of the articles in the list (BORING)
- Click #4 on the selected article
Do I need to tell you it’s too many clicks? Do I need to tell you it’s BORING? No, I don’t because you know it.
The one advantage of James’ current format
If James gets a super fan, they will be happy to find all of James’ articles conveniently organized in a list of lists. They will click and read everything and be very happy.
It’s not a choice I recommend.
Most of us have accidental fans that would like to read two or three of your stories more, but not 200, and they need help to find which ones they “want” to read.
What James should do (IN MY OPINION, of course)
Choose three to five stories in different lists.
Write something like: this is the story I like the most in
If James feels bad about all the other categories that won’t be displayed (he currently has seven lists), he could regularly update the table of content accordingly. Or he could keep the current index and add a link to it at the end of the new (and improved) index I just described!
For example,
Maybe it’s not fair for the 27 others, but “No One Said Life Is Fair” is my favorite story from all the Career Paths columns I wrote. Find the full list here and the story there:
Compare with James’ current version and tell me which one makes you click and read one of his articles.
One thing James did very well (I like to end my articles on a positive note)
It’s the description of his lists. They’re catchy and make you want to explore them. Have a look at this one, for example:
Grandma Smillew loves her afternoon cup of cocoa, Scrabble, and her grandson, Smillew Rahcuef. She’s also a pink belt in social media and marketing strategies. If you want to make her happy, follow her on Medium and write for one of her publications: All About Medium and Grandma Power.
Thank you, dear James, for letting me use your index as an example. It’s very kind of you. As you know, feedback is a gift best served with hot cocoa.