Writing, Creating, and Engaging with Your Audience

Short Cuts for New Medium Writers

Things You Can Do Now to Impact Your Views, Readers and Followers

It’s one of the hardest things for new Medium writers to avoid. In fact, I’d say it’s impossible. You’re going to look at what others do and want to mimic their achievements and writing goals. That’s perfectly fine. That’s how you get a gauge of what others are producing and what’s working for them.

I have learned, however, since I started writing here, that one must hone their presentation skills with story selection, creating logically chronologized writing, great picture selections, proper formatting of your material and the all-important process of editing, to eliminate the grammatical errors.

Download the free version of Grammarly or any other editing tool that will help you ensure your writing is tight. Then, begin with your idea. What are you going to write? What story will you tell? Will it be personal? No one can really challenge you on your material if it’s your own, personal story. Will you write a well-researched article? If so, don’t be afraid to validate what you say by including reference links.

Use a link box in place of an image when you quote reference material. For instance.

You can private message me and I will walk you through how to make these little neat box links that I use in most of my articles.

So, now you have your idea, and you are ready to start writing, right? Not so fast. Who is your audience? You might say, “Well, the entire Medium platform is my audience.” Not quite. Over time, you will develop a following. Right now, there are millions of readers and contributors on the site. When I ‘Friend’ someone, I do so because there’s a bit of commonality between us. They wrote something I like; they commented on something, and I agree with their comments, they followed me and shared a comprehensive reply. These indicate common factors and could identify potential active followers. Congratulations, your audience is growing.

Now, before I go further, I want to point out one thing I just did, that I want you to avoid. My paragraphs above are pretty long. Make your paragraphs a bit shorter than what I have written above. Take it easy on your readers and give their eyes a break.

Picture Selection

I can’t stress the importance of picture selection. Since I’ve been on Medium, I’ve read many posts that warn of the potential dangers of using images or artwork that have a copyright. I stick with www.pexels.com or another site, I will link for you here:

When I am writing and I get to a phrase in my sentence or paragraph that would be best highlighted with an image, I immediately search the sights to illustrate what I am saying. I have found that some readers really do enjoy the imagery.

Don’t Forget to Monetize Your Story

You’ve written your story and it’s a masterpiece. You’ve selected great images. You’ve used Grammarly throughout the writing process and your copy is error free and you are now ready to release your material to the world. You’ve selected all the right keywords and you now wish to publish.

Before you push publish, be sure to click on the box and make sure it has a check mark in the monetize your story box. Otherwise, no matter how many people read your story, you won’t earn a penny for it. Maybe the first couple of stories you write will ONLY earn you a couple of pennies, but most will tell you, those first few pennies are the mark of a personal achievement.

In my next story, I will share with you the decision process I went through in deciding whether to publish on Medium proper or in a Medium publications. There are still a lot of things left to learn, but you will pick things up along the way. I just want to point you in the right direction for now.

Until the next time, Cheers!

About the Author

Julius Evans is a 3X Top Writer on Medium in Reading, Music, and Movies. He is also a Senior Editor for Illumination Integrated Publications. He has a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI; a Master of Arts degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ; a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from City University, Bellevue, WA, and an Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies from Central Texas College, Killeen, Texas. He is a 1985 graduate of the Defense Information School (DINFOS) of Print and Electronic Journalism and Advanced Public Affairs. DINFOS was relocated from Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, IN, to its current location at Fort George Meade, MD.

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