Writing | Relationships | Conversation

How to Stop Cutting Off Their Heads and Using a Kicker

Join the Conversation

I’m writing a series of feature articles to discuss and illustrate the innovative ways we are collaborating on Illumination.

To keep it interesting, I’ll shine a light on solutions to some of your difficulties and answer any questions that come to me each day.

I’ll also share a way to connect with fellow writers and readers.

Well hello there.

In case we’ve never met, I’m Tree Langdon, an editor here at Illumination. I’m continuously inspired by the talented writers I’ve met here. I’d really like to get to know you too.

Writers Can Make Meaningful Change!

There are some trail blazing, collaborative projects being developed at Illumination.

Dr Mehmet Yildiz has begun a new way for us to share information and collaborate. Here’s the story:

When you create a Project, Dr Mehmet Yildiz asks you to use a Kicker to make it easier to find all the posts. Here’s how he explains it in his article.

“You choose a theme or topic. By keeping the same kicker name, you can create multiple stories related to your chosen topic. I recommend you start with a topic in your expertise area. Let’s say social media. You can create numerous stories about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube etc.”

In this case, your kicker could be Social Media.

A Kicker is a line of topics that appears above your main title. In the story you are reading right now the Kicker is:

Writing | Relationships | Conversation

Scroll up and have a look at the first line.

Are you interested in learning how to create a Kicker?

I tell you how to do it here:

When you create a project you will benefit from meeting a diverse group of like-minded individuals.

If this interests you, I invite you to participate by creating a Project.

More posts about innovative Projects here:

How does Curation Work?

In a nutshell, write quality articles and pay attention to tags, kickers, format and Medium curation rules.

These stories were successfully curated and distributed to topics in Medium. It’s an excellent resource to study if you are interested in being curated.

Here’s my take on curation from when I was a new writer.

Our team of editors and writers are ready and willing to assist you with any questions or problems you may be experiencing.

Answers to your Burning How to Questions

Do you have a burning ‘how to’ question? This is your opportunity.

Add your question as a comment here and I’ll be happy to answer it.

Do you have a terrific tip for our writers?

Add it in the comments!

When I first started writing on Medium I struggled with the platform. It wasn’t as intuitive as a Word document. It took me awhile to figure how to make it work for me and I’m still learning.

Let’s share our experiences and learn from each other.

Here’s the question of the day.

How Do I Fix My Pictures So The Heads Aren’t Cut Off?

Are you tired of choosing the perfect image, only cringe when you see how it looks displayed on your profile page?

I notice this a lot when I read stories on my phone. The writer has a great title and it looks like a suitable image but their head is cut off. Sometimes all you can see is the sky in a beautiful landscape. When you click through into the article, the full picture displays.

The effect of the image is lost and the reader might not open the post.

Here’s how to focus an image so it displays correctly even on small devices.

Images are different sizes and Medium sets the focus of images dead center.

That often results in a photo that misses the most important detail which might be the small bird in the right hand bottom corner.

Here’s how to fix it.

When you are editing your post, look at the image. Imagine that you are going to crop it into a smaller size.

Choose the spot where you want the center of the smaller image to be.

Here’s an image of a beautiful mountain lake with a white dog on the right. If you want the focus to center on the dog, hold Alt and click on it’s head.

Hold down the Alt key and click on that spot. You should see a message that says the focus has been changed.

Do you see the small green circle? That’s the location of the focus for that image.

Voila!

Your image will now display correctly on smaller screens.

Here’s another example.

The image before adjustment:

The full image when the story is displayed:

The image after adjustment and and the link to the poem:

All Our Stories In One Place — The Daily distribution list

Another way to engage with writers at ILLUMINATION is by checking out the daily distribution list. It includes the stories in the last 24 hours. When you write something and publish on ILLUMINATION your article will appear there too! Here’s the archive that includes all of the posts.

Writers Connect to Build Engagement!

As a lifelong learner, I gather new ideas by observing how other writers engage with their readers. In this section of my bulletin I will share what I have learned.

The key to a meaningful conversation includes both speaking and listening.

A meaningful conversation between writers includes reading, responding, sharing and appreciation.

If you test these ideas for yourself, tag me, Tree Langdon ♾️ and let me know how it worked for you.

Let’s Talk About Slack

We collaborate with published authors, bloggers, and other service providers to extend our network. Join us on our Slack channel to participate.

Slack is our main communication tool. You can send a request via this link to join. Mention “slack request” in the message.

Here are some tips to get up and running with Slack.

We’re here to support you and want you to be successful.

All we ask in return, is that you do the same.

Here is our complete list of Editor bios! Discover who they are and what makes them tick.

Greetings to a few of our new writers. I hope you found something interesting in this article. Jump in and start a conversation.

It’s the best way to connect and connection is how you increase engagement.

Arundhati Thakur, Sharin Alisya, Delta B. McKenzie, Carol Shamon, Kathleen Hall, Aryan Gandhi, Natasha Wibbs, Ryan Li, Dollbird, John Joseph Wong, Stella Brüggen, Michael Kennedy, Kenneth Silvestri, YUSUF KRANDA, kabir, Utkarsh Singh, Jennifer M. Wilson, Rahul Banerjee, Faiz ali khan, Steve Alexander, Janice Arenofsky, ninagraphy, Kendra Lavelle, Bernadette Hassell, Noorain Hassan, Paola Rossetti, Anna I. Smith, Caroline Jan, AM Woodhead, Gabi Zinum, Sneha, Clyde D’Souza, Puck Achterberg, Harshit Mehndiratta, Maliha, Shifani Ram, taruna shri, John Martin, Omer Nasim, Eli Snow , Daniel G. Clark , , Eashan Reddy Kotha, Paroma Sen, Keno Ogbo, James G Brennan Uchechi Obasi, Timothy Key, Holly Jahangiri, Alison Tennent, Dr John Rose, Joe Luca, Charlotte Zobeir Ali, Infiniti, Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D.

Let me know if you don’t want to be tagged in future posts. I’m happy to oblige.

Collaboration is a two way street. Join the conversation and be a part of this meaningful change.

Illumination is all about being engaged in a positive and supportive way. We can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

I’m a writer and editor for ILLUMINATION and Whispers of Magic. Tag me @treelangdon or add a message to this post if you’d like to connect.