Writers & Publications

How to Write a Story on Medium

Basic guidelines for new writers

If you are new to Medium there can be a lot of things to learn. One of the most important things is how to write a story. It will affect whether or not your story gets seen and accepted into publications.

Running a publication, I have seen a lot of mistakes, to help you be the best writer you can be here are the basics on how to write a story on Medium.

Go to the Medium editor, and follow the steps below.

Title

It all starts with your title. It should look like this:

This is Your Title

Notice, that the first letter for most words is capitalized. Except for words such as is, and, a, it, the, etc.)

Highlight the title and a little box will appear, click on the “T”. This makes your title the right size.

A good title is intriguing, it makes a reader want to learn more, so take time to think of a title that represents your story.

Subtitle

Your subtitle informs the reader on what the story is about. It should be written like this:

This is your subtitle

Notice only the first word of a subtitle is capitalized, unless there is a name in it. Do not end the subtitle with a period but you may add a question mark if it’s a question.

Once it is written highlight and choose the little “t”.

Choose a subtitle that further explains your story, you might even use one of the headers in your story.

Picture

The easiest way to add a picture is to click on the plus sign that pops up near your cursor. The first circle is for using a picture on your computer. Click on the second one, and a line for “Unsplash” will appear. Write in the topic you want your picture to be on. Select one.

It is essential that you credit the picture you use. Using this step, the picture will automatically be credited. If you use an image from anywhere else, add the credit. If you took/made the image write “Photo by Author”.

Medium Rules require all pictures to have credits.

Text

This is where you write your story. Keep your paragraphs on the smaller side, it will keep readers engaged.

Break down your story into two or three sections using a header. To create a header, highlight the words you want to make your header and click on the title, “t”.

Make sure that your final paragraph circles back around to your introduction.

Word count

Highlight your text by holding control + A. The word count will appear in the upper left corner.

Word counts are important for things like short form, which is usually just 150 words. On the other side of the word count spectrum, some publications will have word count maximums. Heart Speak asks for no more than 800 words for example.

Writing for Medium has a bit of a learning curve but with time and attention to detail, you can learn how to write like a seasoned pro!

Now that your story is done, you are ready to submit it to a publication. Check out Heart Speak’s submission guidelines…