The Things That Matter Most if You’re Starting on Medium in 2020

Getting off on the right foot matters now, more than ever.

This is the fifth post in a weekly series that will run the rest of 2019. Every Sunday, I’ll post an action plan to help you get ready to start writing on Medium(or take your Medium blog to the next level) in 2020. Click here to get a free ebook about blogging on Medium and be notified when new posts in the series go live.

Read this whole series here:

Okay. If you’ve been following along and doing the work, you’ve made a ton of progress so far. You’ve made a business plan, figured out what you’re going to write about, and organized yourself so that you’re ready for a great year.

This week, I want you to spend some time thinking about getting your Medium venture off on the right foot.

Once upon a time, you could just dive in headfirst on Medium and not worry too much about anything. If your first posts bombed — well, at least you could learn from them.

Let’s call that the Learn Out Loud method. You posted back then and just saw what happened. If you hadn’t figured out the whole learning curve yet, that wasn’t a big deal. No one was reading really anyway and you had time to figure things out.

Those were the good old days. Unfortunately, the Learn Out Loud method isn’t a great practice on Medium going into 2020.

Medium has tightened up things considerably. You have a few posts when you first start writing that will be given a fair shake. Curators will take a look at them. But if you have more than a couple in a row that are passed over by curators, they’ll stop looking.

This is bad news. Curation is the point of writing here. It’s how Medium shares your work with their readers and it’s the only way to get attention beyond your own group of followers or friends. If you’re not curated and you don’t have any followers, then Medium has no one to share your post with.

So, you need to be curated. And you need to be curated early on. Which means that you need to master that learning curve quickly and you need to lead with your best possible work.

Here are some ideas for figuring out that learning curve, as far as curation goes.

1. Remember that Medium is a platform, but it’s also a publisher. Working to get curated means working with Medium as a publisher. They have a specific aesthetic and it’s up to you to figure out how to fit within it.
2. Read curated posts. And read them like a writer. That means read with an eye toward figuring out why they were curated. You can find curated posts by clicking on the word ‘more’ at the top of your home page. That will send you to a list of topics. Choose a topic. All of the posts listed under ‘latest’ have been curated into that topic.
3. Read posts from top writers and pay attention to how those posts are put together. Look at things like their use of subheads and white space, how they open and close their posts, and just the over all look of their posts.
4. Read the curation guidelines provided by Medium.
5. Get feedback from someone who has already mastered the learning curve. Shannon Ashley and I host a live chat every Monday night where we talk about writing on Medium and offer feedback. Check out our newsletter to learn more.
6. If you’re shaky on grammar and spelling, try using Grammarly — a free app that will help.

There are some things that are more important than others when you’re thinking about writing your first posts on Medium and how to make sure that you’re curated early on.

Formatting

This is maybe the most important thing. I think it matters a lot because it’s what I see that’s lacking when I workshop someone’s post. The talent is there, the story is there, but the post doesn’t look like a curated Medium post.

Medium has an aesthetic. Follow those guidelines and you’re halfway there. That means making sure your title and subtitle are properly formatted, your feature photo is large and properly cited, and you have white space and subheads.

Citation

Every photo you use needs to be cited — you need to post where it came from. That’s true even if you take your own photos. It’s true even if you use a photo from a site that doesn’t require you to cite it as a source. Medium requires it. Your posts will automatically be rejected for curation if every photo isn’t cited.

It’s also important to cite your sources for any statistics or other information you share in your post. There’s a perception that Medium doesn’t want you to include any links. That’s definitely not true. Link to your sources. It’s important. At the very least, include enough information so that a reader can go out and find your source on their own if they want to.

Open with a Story, End with a Take Away

This is a great format for just about any post on Medium. Start with a personal story (yours or someone else’s.) Why are you writing this post right now? Why should the reader listen to your opinion on the subject? A story draws the reader in.

Then end with a take away for the reader. What should they do with this information you’ve given them?

Spend Some Time on Your Title, Subtitle, and Photo

This is a doozy. Your title, subtitle, and feature photo are all a reader sees before they choose to click through to your post. They matter — a lot. And because they do, Medium curators pay a lot of attention to them.

Your title should be reflective of what’s actually in your post. No bait and switch or clickbaity titles allowed here. They will not be curated. Period. Your subtitle can be a little more clever, but should still illustrate what’s in your post. The subtitle is a good place to get some of the tone of your writing through to your reader before they click to read. And always choose an appropriate, illustrative photograph.

Your title should be in title case — nearly every word capitalized and no punctuation except for a question mark or exclamation mark. It should be very concise, almost to the point of being boring. The title should just state what is in your post. Think about what someone might Google to come up with your post.

Your subtitle should be in sentence case — formatted like a regular sentence, starting with a capital, with proper punctuation. Use your subtitle to show your reader what they can expect if they click on your post.

And don’t forget to cite your photos. Every time.

It’s worth taking the time and effort to make sure your first posts on Medium are the best work you’re capable of. Getting yourself off on the right foot from the beginning will save you some headache later.

Here’s my secret weapon for sticking with whatever your thing is.

Shaunta Grimes is a writer and teacher. She is an out-of-place Nevadan living in Northwestern PA with her husband, three superstar kids, two dementia patients, a good friend, Alfred the cat, and a yellow rescue dog named Maybelline Scout. She’s on Twitter and Instagram and is the author of Viral Nation and Rebel Nation, and The Astonishing Maybe. She is the original Ninja Writer.