Writing Rules You Can Break on Medium

If you're feeling particularly rebellious

1. Follow Everybody

Lots of great writers swear by using the follow-for-follow method of growing a fan base. That means they follow as many people as they can in hopes of picking up new followers. There is nothing wrong with this method—it’s just not my bag.

The reason I don’t do this is because I’d like to attract genuine readers to my work as opposed to those who are only following me in hopes that I will follow them too.

2. Let Your Work Breathe

Maybe this is why I’m so slow? I usually rewrite as I go. Many writers instead give their drafts plenty of time to sit before publishing. That means they give those drafts time to breathe and don’t go back to their work to edit it until a day or even a week has passed.

It’s not that this isn’t good advice (it is!), but when I spend hours on a story, I am often too impatient to hit publish before I chicken out or second-guess myself.

I try to find a balance and sit on some stories, but certainly not all.

3. Market Like Crazy

Honestly, it’s tough enough sending out occasional newsletters via email. Marketing myself feels weird. Besides, all I really want to do is write.

Many well-meaning people have told me that this is naive. And I’m sure they are right, in a way. Even so, I have always focused on writing and have never done too much with marketing. I rarely throw my links on Facebook and do most link sharing on Twitter.

4. Sell Something

See number three. All I really want to do is write. The idea of selling something feels disingenuous to me unless I seriously believe in that thing.

Recently, I included a link to encourage readers on my email list to buy something, but not from me. I encouraged readers to check out a book from a friend if they were so inclined. It felt weird, but I certainly believed in that one.

I am also co-hosting an online course but, again, didn’t market it like crazy. I’ve recently begun a co-created newsletter on Substack and try not to pester people about that too much.

Sorry, but I just can’t stand to be in-your-face about marketing.

5. Get Rid of All Those Unnecessary Filler Words

Oops. I am the queen of adverbs and fillers. I often use unnecessary words like “so.” This is the kind of thing where I understand the logic behind the rule, but I’m not too interested in holding myself to it.

When I consider my writing voice, it’s conversational. I like to write in such a way that I can feel my personality shine though. I do think those filler words have (so far) helped much more than they hinder me.

6. Find a Narrow Niche

I don’t want to be known for just one genre, but I would like to write honestly about anything that interests me. In any type of creative work, it seems easy for folks to label you the way they’d like to see you. And then they don’t want you to venture away from their specific image of you.

Personally, I’d like to believe that we writers might define ourselves instead. I love writing about many different topics and want to make that manageable in my future writing career.

7. Don’t Write Anything That Could Embarrass Your Workplace/Family/Friends

That ship has honestly sailed a long time ago, and that’s because I like to take Anne Lamott’s words to heart:

“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”

One day, my daughter will find me and realize I write about some sensitive issues. My hope is that she will understand I have done my best to stay true to my calling.

If anything, I think it will help her to better understand me and my personal growth. I'm hoping it will help her growth too.

8. Don’t Use Profanity

The funny thing here is that I swear much more in my writing than I do when I speak. That makes sense since I’ve got a five-year-old at home, and I don’t want her to be the kid who’s teaching her classmates how to get into trouble with a potty mouth.

Profanity is a tough one because it undeniably does turn away some readers. That said, writing is a million different things to me, and one of those things is cathartic. It feels damn good to swear in my writing, so I don’t anticipate getting rid of it anytime soon.

9. Don’t Write About Your Boring Life

I feel like this is practically all I do, and I can’t exactly explain why that works for me. Readers say they enjoy my honesty, and my honesty often feels like all I have to offer.

People like to know they aren’t alone, and maybe that’s where the mundane, slice-of-life writing flourishes. In letting folks know they aren’t crazy because you’ve been there too. And also by assuring them that we’re all pretty boring at heart.

10. Reply to All the Comments or Answer Every Email

This is the one where I feel the most guilt. There are way too many comments and emails for me to answer.

In an ideal world, I would get to every single one. But as a single mom working to (hopefully) create a flourishing writing career, I am seriously stretched too thin as it is. Sadly, I know that turns some readers off, but I feel the right readers will understand my predicament in the long run.

Also, reading the comments can become a mental health risk. I selectively read on my strongest days.

11. Ignore the Haters

Yes, I must admit that I occasionally do speak up to some of the negative comments on my work. Why even acknowledge the negativity when I don’t have enough time to respond to everybody anyway?

For me, it’s simple. The vast majority of hatred I get comes from men who don’t like to see a woman succeed. Or they actively bully me with the intent to get me to quit writing altogether. I actually think it’s important for women to not let that behavior slide. And I am all for bringing attention to these obstacles that female writers must overcome.

That said, I do pick my battles and do this less and less. I’m getting to that point where I feel like letting people talk shit, and then I just shrug it off.

And write.

12. Have Multiple Streams of Revenue

To be fair, I am working on this one, but it’s much easier said than done. For the time being, I’ve got one main stream of income. And one much smaller (not livable) source of revenue. Plus, two new endeavors that will hopefully pan out well.

I think some folks misinterpret me having most of my eggs in Medium as ego or stubbornness on my part, but the reality is that I have almost always struggled to juggle multiple things. Even in high school and college, I could excel at half my courses but would wind up failing the other classes. As I’ve gotten older, I basically accept this as a challenge of my life with autism.

Writing on Medium is an opportunity and a pretty great one for experimenting as a writer. Don’t be afraid to break the writing rules you’ve thought you had to follow!