mUDDYuM 201

Tip-Top Advice for the Timorous Yet Ballsy Writer

Nix the prolixity, don’t bury your story, and work on that later

Tip #1 of 3 — Try for Top Billing

You think you’ve heard this advice before, but you haven’t. Far as I know, I didn’t steal this tiny tip from anyone.

Do you want a shot at the top spot on our home page?

Hell yeah 👀 So why did you self-publish your darling while, or before, submitting it to us? That affects story placement on the day MuddyUm publishes it. If it’s not same-day, your darling’s heading below the fold. Other publications may vary.

Your bad habit may hide your darling from visitors to MuddyUm’s home page, but it’s easily eliminated.

There’s a magic BB that can’t be fired from your phone

Unfortunately, the Medium app doesn’t have the option of submitting to publications. — Khadejah, in How to Edit Articles on Your Phone Using The Medium App

Use the Medium app in the way that works best for you. But as soon as you decide which pub fits your story, go to your computer. Click the … three dots. Click Add to publication. Then Select a publication. Don’t wait till you’re done writing to select the pub.

Select and continue — that’s the tip! 👀

Don’t click Submit till your darling is up to date on shots, ready to join your selected publication’s queue. You can change your mind and select a different pub at any time before submittal.

You know you’re an Outlaw when MuddyUm appears on your list of publications. Balls or no balls, if you’re not already onboard MuddyUm as a writer, DRINK ME.¹ 🍺

Tip #2 of 3 — Theda Kara (tk)² Is Your Friend

WTH are tk notes? ↬X↫

When you want to kome back later to something in your story, type — in all capital letters — tk. A tk flag automagically appears in the left margin.

It’s helpful to be warned — when you click Publish or Submit — that tk’s still hanging around. I routinely type tk picture and tk SEO & Alt text and tk kicker when starting a new story. Don’t want to Submit or Publish without checking off my To-Do list.

¹ Speaking of SEO, OMG this coincidental alignment of universal forces means the answer is 42:

The SEO example above is not to be construed as an excellent one, meticulously crafted by someone other than this tipsy hipster/hippie tipster. I know SEO is like an elevator speech but I don’t sell myself in elevators.

² I’m preventively or preemptively avoiding ALL-CAPS tkS. Yes, everybody knows the 4-letter word come doesn’t start with a K. Casey Botticello explains tk notes here.

Tip #3 of 3 — Spend Quality Time on Story Titles & Subtitles

Part A of this tip topic is stolen from Hogan Torah.

3A — Headlines should suck you in 🍭

Wish I’d discovered Hogan’s Nobody Will Read Your Story if The Title Sucks when it came out last August. Per Mr. Autofill,

How do you know if your headline sucks?🍭 Simple. The free online Sharethrough Headline Analyzer. Forget trying to learn something intangible, let AI figure it out.

Sucks for Hogan that autofilling and celebrity aren’t synonymous.🍭 Though you said to ignore the analyzer’s suggestions, such as “add a celebrity,” Hogan, I hoped adding your name to my subtitle here would increase its score. But it didn’t, so I went with

3B — Size matters; or, Headline length counts

Did you know Medium has a 100-character limit for title-subtitle combinations in previews?⁴

Dr. Natalie’s long title & subtitle serve as an example.

• Title — If You Post Writing Calls, Make Sure They Widely Apply and Aren’t Only for Writers From Tristan da Cunha
• Subtitle — If you repost writing calls, please curate before including so they apply to a wide variety of writers

Previewed on MuddyUm, her headline truncates as highlighted below.

Pro Tip for Editors — character count, including spaces, is visible for titles of stories in the queue. Look under the Change display title/subtitle menu pick.

Had editor fairy been on point for Dr. Natalie’s story, she may’ve suggested reducing the combined length of title and subtitle from 206 to ≤100 characters. For example:

• Title — Does Your Call Apply to a Wide Variety of Writers?
• Subtitle — That last call was aimed at Tristan da Cunha only

Long title-subtitle combinations like Dr. Natalie’s don’t equal piratical plank-walking, of course! Mudditors are title diversity allies. Perhaps you like the truncation illustrated above.

It’s an exceptionally sneaky way to avoid Susan Brearley’s quondam absolute prohibition of ellipses, right, Andrew?

⁴ Source: Niklas Göke’s The #1 Way to Ruin a Medium Title.

Dr. Natalie also influenced my MuddyUm MWC entry under Laziness

My ‘all things MuddyUm’ list is here: Outlaw’s Guide

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my tipsy hipster or hippie tipster nonsense. If you’d like to support me as a writer, click here to receive my stories via email.