How to Write the Best You Can

Here are 4 lessons, tips and links I’ve learned so far

The last few days I’ve gone through 100’s of articles I’ve written. Some embarrassed me because they were poorly written, and others made me smile. Some were vulnerable and real. There were many where I spent countless days rewriting. I read pieces where I tried too hard and not hard enough.

Oy! What a learning curve.

Writing is a process; it’s full of mistakes and hopefully some successes too.

I know I get a thrill when I’m recognized and published because it gives me the incentive to keep writing. However, when I only rely on the outer world to see me, and there’s no response, phew! I can get defeated.

Nevertheless, here are four straightforward lessons which I gained from my writing.

Lesson #1: Titles and subtitles are essential, followed by a high-quality image.

As I mentioned, I spent the past few days going through many pieces. I cleaned up the titles and added subtitles. I can see why I wasn’t curated just for that very reason. My titles were sloppy and often I had not added a subtitle.

Having a strong, clear title, followed by a subtitle is super important when writing. Also a high-quality noncopyrighted image. Here’s are some resources for images.

“Free-use resources like Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash, and the Gender Spectrum Collection are great for sourcing Creative Commons-licensed images.” ~ 5 of the Most Common, Easy-to-Fix Problems We See in Curation

If you want to see if your title has that extra pizzazz, check out CoSchedule Headline Analyzer. This website also has information on power words, emotional words, and such. Play with it and see how it works for you or not.

Lesson #2: Quality comes first over quantity

I’ve gone through phases where I write every day and end up pushing out mumbo jumbo. The pressure is real. Nearly every other article will stress write, write, write and of course, there are the excessive pieces on “How to Make Your First $10,000!” [Fine print: in one week, without any experience, and being super duper lucky.] I’m not jealous. Okay, maybe a wee bit.

Anyway, the downside for me when I write for quantity, is obvious: I’m not taking the time to write quality and I get caught in a wicked puppy mill type of feel. And, it doesn’t work for me.

At this point I usually stop writing because not only do I feel discouraged earning maybe .10 for an article, and less for a poem, I’m burnt out and it increases my already sensitive writer’s self-doubt.

So, the best thing I can do is to pull back, re-center myself and return to writing from my heart.

I usually feel better if I add some ice-cream, and a cookie.

The lack of monetary achievement is still there. The lack of being curated remains.

However, my self-respect as a writer is restored.

I write because it is who I am. Writing is my passion, joy, and comfort. Writing is my self-expression.

Lesson #3: Comparison to other writer’s abundant success is a death trap

Like I mentioned in Lesson #2 with the writers who write about their million-dollar success, and therefore I comparing myself to their achievements — is a death trap for me.

I watch, listen, read, highlight, and wonder WTF am I doing wrong?

But the best thing to do when I get into that mode is to stop and shutdown my laptop and step away from comparing.

Each writer is different. Some have found their niche and have taken a long time getting there. Others have sped past the curve of long days of editing and seem to produce a dozen articles a day and get recognized. I’m not in the latter category.

I like what this author has to say about comparing and it summarizes this lesson well:

“Whatever your passion is, keep doing it. Don’t waste time chasing after success or comparing yourself to others. Every flower blooms at a different pace. Excel at doing what your passion is and only focus on perfecting it. Eventually people will see what you are great at doing, and if you are truly great, success will come chasing after you.” ― Suzy Kassem

I also write about it here:

Lesson #4: Find a few trusted, accomplished writers who give solid advice.

Fortunately, there are incredibly writers and they will offer an abundance of information. Here are three Medium writer’s to get you started:

1. Casey Botticello gives consistent information in his articles but if you are focused on getting curated here’s a specific one that I like.

Medium Story Curation Checklist Double check this handy guide before hitting publish!

2. Maria Milojković, MA

How to write on Medium to get noticed Practical advice on how to improve your content writing and find readers.

3. Josufang

Brand New To Medium? Here Are Some Questions You Might Have Based on actual questions I got recently

Final thoughts

Think about where you were a year ago and where you are now with your writing process. Go through your articles with the eye of an editor.

• What have you done differently? What have you learned to do better?
• What writers inspire you? Read them for encouragement.
• Find your writing voice and compare less to what others are doing.
• Publish and write at your own pace. Learn to take breaks.
• Spend time writing quality rather than quantity.

Ultimately, keep writing. Each time you write you are improving the quality of your words and sharing the spirit of you.

Special thanks to Christina M. Ward for inspiring me to write this base on her article, “Curation Droughts Seem to Be Real Thing.”

Carolyn Riker, MA, LMHC, is a licensed psychotherapist and author of three books of poetry and prose. Her latest is My Dear, Love Hasn’t Forgotten You. If you’d like, follow her on Facebook at Carolyn Riker, MA, LMHC or Instagram.