The Magic Of Shortform Posts
8 reasons I love to write shortform

Some people condemn shortform as not being creative enough or worthy to be a part of Medium. I beg to differ but I do get the arguments. It’s easier to write shortform, yes. It’s faster, indeed. And depending on the style, the quality might be lower than that of long-form content, true.
BUT shortform has many upsides. I’ll give 8 reasons why I love writing shortform posts.
1. Staying in the habit of writing every day
I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle to write a long post (700+ words let’s say) every day. Shortform is a handy way to sidestep that.
2. Views and earnings
You might not know it, but shortform posts can go viral. And they can earn you almost as much as long posts. I just broke down my earnings in another post.
3. Information-dense
A great shortform post doesn’t lack quality. Quite the opposite. It gets to the point quickly. As a reader, I appreciate that from time to time.
4. A good companion
Shortform posts are an excellent companion to a long story. I’ve said it before, you can easily and effectively promote your long-form stories with shortform posts. I do it. It works. It’s more effective than promoting on social media for me.
5. Tailored publications
Shortform has its own niche on Medium. With quite a few publications tailored to the 150-word art. I write for The Shortform. I’m an editor there too. Publishing with these publications can lead to a good amount of views.
6. Repurpose content
Another great use case for shortform content is repurposing older stories. Take one aspect of a longer story that’s worth expanding on and write a shortform about it. You’ll see that you can create multiple shortforms from a single long-form article. Let the ideas flow!
7. Thank the community
Next, I enjoy using shortform posts as a communication tool with readers and writers. A direct route to the community if you will. Thank your readers, tag some of your favorite writers, discuss overlapping ideas or topics. These are all great use cases for short posts. At The Shortform, it has become a regular occurrence that writers mention each other or their posts. I love that about Medium and shortform content, in particular.
8. Start short, keep going
Lastly, my favorite reason to write shortform. I can’t tell you how many times in the last few months, I’ve started writing a shortform post, only to hit the 150-word max way too quickly, realizing then that I could very well turn this post into a long-form one. That’s the beauty. Starting a shortform post is not as daunting, but you might still end up with 600 words or 1000.
The bottom line
Think of shortform as an opportunity to grow on Medium. As an aid to stay in the writing habit, to hit your personal goals.
I try to publish at least every weekday. Without shortform, this wouldn’t be possible for me. I also plan shortform posts for the days that usually get fewer views. Timing is an important factor on Medium.
If you haven’t done so, give shortform content a go. Become a writer for The Shortform by Tom Fenske or another one of the publications that exclusively publish shortform. You’ll see the upsides for yourself, I’m sure.
P.S.: First of all, you should get my posts in your inbox. Do that here! Secondly, if you like to experience Medium yourself, consider supporting me and thousands of other writers by signing up for a membership. It only costs $5 per month, it supports us, writers, greatly, and you have the chance to make money with your writing as well. When I started, I made $3000 in 6 months. By signing up with this link, you’ll support me directly with a portion of your fee, it won’t cost you more. If you do so, thank you a million times!