Let It Shine

Tip Of The Day — On showing your personality

This is part of a series of daily tips for writers, published to share ideas and suggestions on our craft. Everyone will have different advice on writing, so the tip below is just a personal selection which I hope you will find useful. Do share any of your own in the comments.

The tip for today is to show your personality in your writing. Let your unique voice and perspective shine through. This is particularly true on Medium, as the platform actively encourages this style of writing.

So while for an academic essay, we might avoid writing in the first person (eg. I did this….), on Medium, it is far more acceptable to place yourself at the centre of a story.

One of the great things about the platform is the way that writers share their rich lived experiences, also that some of the writing is at times a little raw and not always polished to perfection. We are getting to know real people, not ghostwriters or bland, airport, writing-by-numbers, mainstream puréed pap.

Established users of Medium will also have noticed that there is a range of articles that some produce, headed “About me”, where we can learn more about the backstories of numerous authors. This is one of the things that makes the platform such as friendly and supportive place, as we can get to know each other online through these articles. This approach may feel a little uncomfortable to some, and this may be a cultural thing: I feel that such openness goes against the traditional British reserve! However sharing our story helps others, so on balance, I think it is a good thing.

As a reminder the following are extracts from Medium’s quality and Boost guidelines:

“Is the reader’s life enriched by reading the story? Stories selected for Boost might elicit emotions like laughter, tears, excitement, wonder, and more. Or they might help a reader learn something that will help them do their job better, master a new skill, lend words and understanding to feelings, navigate relationships with greater ease, better understand issues of the day, reconsider their own perspectives, or even feel less alone in the world. Whatever the genre, there’s a relationship between readers and writers, and Boost-worthy stories exemplify respect for that relationship; the reader is not left with a sense that their time has been used to read a sales pitch or to indulge a writer’s bid for attention. The story shows genuine regard for the reader (as opposed to being written mainly for the benefit of the writer)……

Is it original, human-created content? The story is original in that it explores something previously unknown or not frequently examined, or it re-examines something we think we know a lot about to shed new light, voice, or perspective on the topic………

Does the author speak from relevant knowledge and experience? The story demonstrates that the author has credible, first-hand experience with or knowledge about this subject, and they care deeply about communicating it effectively. That may be because they’re a subject matter expert or because of their lived experience. One way or another, there’s a clear and compelling reason why this particular author is writing about this particular topic — their insights (whether revealed in the context of fiction or nonfiction) reflect relevant experience.”

So the guidance direct from Medium is to put your personality into your writing, connect with your readers, and to share your lived experience and what is unique about you!

I hope you found this article useful, and any tips of your own in the comments.

Previous tips:

Day 28 — Using synonyms for variety

Day 27 — On drafting and revising

Day 26 — On Medium etiquette

Day 25 — On using informal language

Day 24 — Put a Tigger in your prose

Day 23 — Dedication — time, place, space

Day 22 — On spell-checking, Grammarly and proof-reading

Day 21 — The five unspoken commandments of Medium

Day 20 — George Orwell’s six tips on writing style

Day 19 — The importance of interaction

Day 18 — Replying to comments

Day 17: Engagement

Day 16- Attention-seeking behaviour — the importance of your first sentence –

Day 15 — Keep it snappy — headlines

Day 14- Subject selection –

Day 13 — Making time –

Day 12 — Deadlines –

Day 11 — Layout –

Day 10 — Niches for Riches –

Day 9 — Do your own research –

Day 8 — Choosing your subject –

Day 7 — Reverse engineering success –

Day 6 — Planning –

Day 5 — Location –

Day 4 — Dictionary and thesaurus –

Day 3 –Quotations

Day 2 — Mind your language — learning new words

Day 1- The Notebook

As always, thank you for reading.

To join a new Facebook group “Medium Matters” where writers can support each other and share articles.