The Exact Strategy You Can Use To Get Curated As a Beginner

A no bait guide from an actual beginner

So, I got curated for the first time.

English is not my first language, I came into the writing scene 3 months ago and I haven't written much to begin with.

How did I do it?

The answer is more complex than, “I wrote great content”.

And the guide is not your typical, “You can get curated in your first day of writing”.

It’s not false either. You can get curated on your first day of writing. But it will happen in your 20th+ day of reading.

I spent months reading on Medium before I wrote a story that got curated. I realized that I needed to understand the principles of curation before attempting it.

I’m a perfectionist, so I wanted to succeed early on. I wrote two articles for The Ascent that got rejected before I get accepted+curated.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” ― Abraham Lincoln

By “sharpening the axe” I noticed how others did it. What brought curation to their articles and applied them to mine. Below you’ll see the exact strategy to get yourself curated and accepted in a big publication as well.

Read More Before You Write

My favorite writer, Amardeep Parmar got curated more times than I can count. He made me go all-in with writing because of his sudden rise.

What was his secret? You should read and judge for yourself, as I did. I’m kidding, I’ll provide a cheat sheet below to save your time.

I broke down the structure of successful writers way before I wrote my first story on Medium. And while I wrote stories that were unique in structure, they were experiments, personal stories that I wanted to develop in order to get better at writing. Now that I know how to provide value in an optimal way, I do it easily because I have the collective experience of other writers.

I can break the rules of writing at my will.

You Need to Provide Value to The Reader

When you are writing, you are always writing for the reader. It’s not your personal journal. And even if it is, it has to provide a lesson.

Under the title, you can see that my story is “Chosen for further distribution”. It got curated for Productivity, Technology, and Self.

It was released as curated from the start.

The story provides genuine feedback on how your life would improve by not using technology.

When you have an idea ask yourself this.

Is it helpful? If yes, write down why.

Then, from there you can analyze the various ways your idea will be helpful for the reader.

A Personal Story Helps

Although I’m talking for them, the article begins with my personal story. I made them understand that this story provides value to the reader. How? By proving that I improved myself after having this real-life experience.

A story is curated by people. Not machines.

Affect those people so you’ll end up being curated.

My story is important for everyone. I talk about the effect technology has on our lives, and you are reading this using technology. 100% important for all. Not just me who experienced the story.

You Should Backlink/Research

Apart from improving the SEO of your story, backlinking to external sites that back up your points makes the story look more professional.

If you read my story, you’ll see 1–2 links per argument. I spent the time to back up my points so curators understand that.

Your Language

You’re not writing a novel. You are providing an informational point of view.

I don't know great English. I know communicational English. It’s enough for me to show my perspective on a topic and share my personal stories.

If you are a native English speaker, don't get fancy with your words. It’s important for everyone to understand what you are saying. Curators love to curate pieces that will affect everyone. So you need to ensure improving those chances.

You also need to use more YOU than I.

Why?

Well, I recently got into copywriting and they always mention how talking about the buyer is better than talking about the seller.

You make them trust you better, so write around them. My personal story is filled with the word “you”.

As I said, affecting the curator is your prime goal.

Curation Guidelines and Editing

The alpha and omega to get noticed on Medium are following their guidelines.

It’s more simple than you think of.

If you fail to meet them but you don't know you did, follow this one little step.

Write the story and move on. Edit it tomorrow, with a fresh perspective and you’ll notice words that could be deleted. You need to get to the point right away and not spent the time of readers.

My story gets through the points fast and effectively.

Aim For Bigger Publications

The last point is actually the most important one.

Not because smaller publications are not worth it. I love posting here more than anywhere, to be honest.

But bigger publications have editors that are curators too.

I got curated right away. I had the chance to get reviewed by a curator himself.

Bigger publications draw bigger eyes. And those eyes can boost your story.

Also the higher the editorial level, the more chances you have to trust your writing and be the next prodigy of Medium.

It takes time for them to accept your story right away, but when you do, you’ll end up being happy that your work is paying off. I know I was.

Final Thoughts

It’s easy to get curated because I of all did it.

I’m the most vivid example of a beginner in writing, and I succeeded.

So why won’t you succeed with me?

By reading, you’ll be a master at writing in no time (depends on how much you read every day).

And by reading, you’ll understand that it takes more than following the Curation Guidelines of Medium.

Write good content for the world, and the world will answer will want more.

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