My Personal Writing Guide For Medium
- Not everyone will be interested in everything you have to say (or anything). Write it anyway.
- You’re going to offend some people. Like it or not, this is the sacred ground in which seeds of opinion are sewn, and remember, some people happen to love feeling offended, so if you’re too afraid of being offensive you’ll probably attract more of these folks.
- Tell the truth. And remember the only truth you can tell is your own.
- Admit when you’re wrong. Apologize when you need to.
- If you’re outrageous, be outrageous but don’t feign outrageousness for attention.
- If an idea doesn’t inspire you to immediately interrupt whatever non-writing thing you’re doing, you may consider passing on it.
- Encourage and support fellow writers.
- If people are not reading & recommending your stories, don’t assume you’re a bad writer. A) They may not be seeing them B) They see them but are not interested for reasons unknown to you C) They’re secretly reading them but don’t want anyone else to know D) Don’t take any of this personal E) Pay close attention to no. 9.
- Always assume you could be a better writer.
- Cite any references including the images you’re borrowing from someone who worked their arse off to creat them.
- Be funny when it’s natural, but don’t make others the butt of your humor. It’s usually not funny, unless you’re John Oliver doing Donald Drumpf.
- Edit, but don’t edit yourself in an effort to come off “nice”, damn it. See rule no. 3.
- Get to the point. You don’t want to lose the reader before they’ve had a chance to discover how brilliant you are, right?
- Because you’re superstitious and other writers may be too, never end a listicle on “13”.
I’ve placed this on the kitchen table where I do most of my writing. It’s in no particular order of importance and I will probably add to it the longer I’m here at Medium.
s. lynn knight 2016