Summary

The website content provides guidance on reviving old stories by correcting spelling and grammatical errors, improving formatting, selecting more engaging images, reconsidering titles, updating tags, and correcting factual inaccuracies to enhance the appeal and reach of one's online writing.

Abstract

The article "How To Revive Old Stories and Why You Should" emphasizes the unique advantage of online writing: the ability to edit published work. It suggests that writers can refresh their content by fixing errors, enhancing formatting, choosing better images, revising titles, and updating tags to increase readership and maintain a professional reputation. The author, Denise Shelton, uses personal anecdotes to illustrate the impact of these changes, such as correcting the spelling of "Colosseum" in a popular piece about ancient Rome and changing a lackluster title to boost the popularity of a story about Lola Montez. Shelton encourages writers to revisit their archives, as even small updates can lead to a resurgence of interest and potentially go viral, turning past efforts into ongoing successes.

Opinions

The author believes that the ability to edit stories after publication is a significant benefit of online writing that should not be overlooked.
Correcting spelling and grammatical errors is crucial for maintaining a writer's reputation and credibility.
Proper formatting and image selection are important for attracting readers and making a good first impression.
A compelling title can significantly influence a story's success, and writers should not hesitate to revise titles that may not resonate with readers.
Using specific and relevant tags can help increase the visibility of stories to interested audiences.
Writers have a responsibility to correct any misinformation in their stories to protect their integrity, as old stories have the potential to gain new attention.
Regularly revisiting and improving past stories is presented as a valuable practice for sustaining and growing a writer's online presence and income.

Writing Tips

How To Revive Old Stories and Why You Should

When it comes to writing online, never invest and forget

There are many benefits to writing online, but one of the main ones is something many writers don’t think about: the ability to edit your story after you publish it. You can revive a story that’s been languishing unread for months and get it moving again. You can also “re-write your wrongs” by correcting misspellings, errors in grammar and formatting, and inaccurate statements. It’s an advantage print writers can only dream about. Use it!

Fix spelling and grammatical errors

The most obvious reason to edit after publishing is to correct an error. A few months ago, I wrote a story about ancient Rome. It was pretty popular with close to 2,000 views, but it wasn’t until two months after I published it that I found out there was a glaring error in the text.

As a writer, your reputation is precious, so protect and nourish it.

A reader pointed out that I had misspelled “Colosseum.” Spellcheck missed it because the way I originally spelled it in my story (coliseum) would have been perfectly acceptable if I had been speaking about someplace else. It’s just that the name of the famous landmark in Rome has a specific spelling, and I got it wrong. I thanked the reader and corrected the spelling.

If you’ve only recently started using Grammarly or similar programs, run your old stories through it and see how you can improve them. As a writer, your reputation is precious, so protect and nourish it. You never know when an old story might regain momentum. Let it reflect the skill you have now rather than how green you were then.

Formatting errors

When I first started writing on Medium, I self-published a bunch of poems. Since I wasn’t working with a publication, I wasn’t aware of the guidelines, so my poems looked like this:

Layered Love

Love is an onion Tasty, tearful, layers deep Essential to cooks

The title should be above the picture. I didn’t use a subtitle, so when it appeared in a preview window, you could read the whole haiku without even clicking on it. Here’s how it looks after I made some changes.

When writing on Medium, remember to update your edits in the display titles/subtitles pull-down menu item in editing mode. Changing a title or adding a subtitle in the story will not change how your title looks in preview windows. You have to take that additional step.

A picture’s worth a 1000 words

Maybe the picture you chose to go with your story did not entice readers to click on it. I wrote a story that I thought was pretty good, but hardly anyone read it. I went back and looked at the photo I used, and I could see why. It was all wrong for the message I was trying to convey. I changed it and saw traffic on my story pick up immediately.

Another thing you should check is to see if your featured image looks how you want it to in the preview window. The gorgeous picture of a couple on the beach you chose to go with your story may appear in the preview window with the couple’s heads cut off. If you can’t adjust that, you’d do well to choose another image.

What’s in a name?

Did the title you chose for your story appeal to readers? The original title of a piece I did about dancer Lola Montez was “Trouble in a Mantilla and Dancing Slippers.” Pretty horrible, huh? When Lola didn’t get the respect she deserved, I changed the title to “The Short Spectacular Life of Lola Montez.” Since then, it’s moved up the line to become my second most-read story.

Tag, you’re it!

Check the tags on your older stories. Maybe you were in a hurry to publish and didn’t give them enough thought. Try changing them and see what happens. Don’t just use the most popular tags on Medium. Reserve a couple for people looking for specifics. If you mention Queen Elizabeth in your story, try using her name as a tag. Today, nobody’s Googling her, but tomorrow, who knows?

Just the facts

Sometimes, you write a story and later find out it contains misinformation. How lucky you are that it’s not sitting bound in a bookstore. Print authors have to live with their mistakes. Online writers do not. Even if you think your story is old news and nobody will read it anyway, correct your inaccuracy and protect your reputation, just in case. Old stories can go viral. It happens.

Here’s the takeaway

The stock market saying, “Invest and forget” shouldn’t apply to online writers. When you invest your time in researching and crafting a story, it’s worth it to do whatever you can to make that investment pay off. Make it a practice to go back over your old stories online and see what you can improve.

Your changes have the potential to perk up a lagging readership and boost your past work’s earning potential. You’ll also be improving the impression you make on new readers. Remember, the Internet is forever, but your mistakes don’t have to be.

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