My Best Performing Article Goes Against a Lot of Common Advice
A look into what works and what doesn’t
I would love to be able to tell you that I know why my best performing story to date has been received so well.
But I would be lying, and lying is wrong.
I was doing some research like all the successful people tell you to do. So I went to the top earning stories that I’ve written and tried to discern what made people want to read and engage with them.
What I found was the story at the top broke some common guidelines and followed others.
So here’s the documentation for your benefit.
Let’s learn together by first looking at what was “wrong.”
It Used Long Paragraphs
I sympathize (and even agree) with the idea that shorter paragraphs are more likely to retain the interest of the average online reader.
But my story had several longer paragraphs in it, and a couple of them were highlighted in whole:
A substantial paragraph, which is usually discouraged, was one of the favorite pieces of the article.
It Used Filler Words
Typing in ‘filler’ for Unsplash to find an image of something that’s considered unnecessary made this image of a lip injection pop up. I really want to give commentary on cosmetic surgery right now, but I won’t.
Back to the main topic.
I noticed that the word ‘actually’ made several appearances in my story, along with other words that could have been cut.
Rereading the piece as the author was actually kind of annoying, as it felt like every occurrence of such words was a blemish in my writing.
It Used Big Words
Online writing gurus generally discourage the use of words and sentences that require anything above a fifth grade level of reading comprehension. But lengthy sentences and uncommon multi-syllable words like untraversable show themselves throughout the story.
But by all appearances, this didn’t seem to have a negative impact.
Now let’s look at the ways it did conform and what I believed helped its success.
It Injected Humor Frequently
Something I appreciate from my readers are the references to my quirky humor. There are times where I’m tempted to shrink back from saying something because my humor tends to the dark side. But I say it anyway because, well, I think it’s funny.
Tasteful and well-timed humor can only help a piece of writing.
It Used Elements of My Personal Story, But Was Focused on the Audience
Not many people are going to care about what you write unless they can get something out of it. That’s harsh, and I hate saying it just as much as you hate hearing it. But it’s true.
I was able to use past experiences to make a point that’s relevant to the reader’s present situation.
That’s a win.
It Was Authentic
Authentic is a buzzword that has taken over the internet. I’m not 100% sure that’s a good thing, but there is something to it.
The story under consideration was one of the most enjoyable to write and subsequently talk about with commenters.
Why? Because it was authentic.
The experiences I wrote about were authentic to me. The lengthy sentences and uncommon, high-brow words were in line with the way I think, instead of being doctored to fit what I thought other people would like to such an extent that it was unrecognizable to me as a piece of my own writing.
Conclusions
Based on this research, I’ve come up with the following.
- Medium readers are a sophisticated menagerie. It’s permissible to use words that require a high-school diploma to understand.
- Good writing has some standard criteria, but a lot of what makes something “good” is subjective. You can have filler words and adverbs and still be a good writer.
- Keep it authentic and show some personality with humor.
- Always keep the reader in mind and make it relevant for them.
I might be wrong in my assessment, but those actually seem like sound takeaways to me.
Thank You
I’m aware that time is valuable, and I truly appreciate you spending yours reading my work! Thank you so much.
If you found this helpful, please consider giving me a follow to support me.
That guy with a sense of humor darker than his complexion,
David.
