WRITING
My editor yelled at me.
It’s been a while since I’ve written an article on Medium, but one topic comes to mind.
That’s critique of the writing of others.
I don’t do this often.
Most of the time on this platform I read a terrific article, and I say so. I put that in the comments.
Occasionally, I can’t help myself. If the article just isn’t what it could be I feel compelled to mention it.
I try not to.
That comes from 30 years in small town newspapers.
In the newsroom we would argue over a the wording of a headline, or a sentence, or if one story should take priority over another. We would also argue- not debate- on whether we should do a particular story at all.
These discussions could get heated.
There was, on occasion, yelling, near head butting, door slamming.
We would eventually find compromise or common ground, make a decision for the good of the newspaper, and move on.
I have to mention one more thing.
We didn’t do any of it for claps or likes.
We didn't think of putting pull quotes or little pictures in the middle of the copy so the poor reader wouldn’t get bored. We didn’t hold your hand. We didn’t think in terms of reads and views and analytics. We just wrote.
Much of this was before the internet.
We didn’t have any thought a story might go “viral.”
We had a circulation of about 3,500 between two newspapers, and that was it.
The closest we got to a story going “viral” was if another newspaper liked a story we wrote and picked it up.
Occasionally I’d get a newspaper from some town far away from our area, a newspaper we never heard of, once from a terrific little newspaper in Saskatchewan. They picked up an agriculatural story I did. They found it somehow, liked it, ran it. They sent us a copy of their newspaper with the story in it as a courtesy acknowledgement.
That happened a few times. That was, if you like, “going viral” in those days.
Medium is different, of course.
Readers from anywhere in the world can access Medium stories.
There are writers on Medium with followers that far exceed the numbers of people who paid for a subscription to any newspaper I worked on.
And we’re all doing it for claps and likes.
So it’s not appreciated at all when somebody comes along, reads a Medium article, and comments on it, saying, essentially, “You missed a spot.”
On Medium we’re looking for our tribe. We niche down. It’s a supportive environment.
To me, Medium, much of the time, is like visiting an old folks home where staff whisper compliments in the ears of the residents while putting blended peas in front of them so they can chew without teeth. The difference is most of the people sitting in the soft rocking chairs eating compliments and pablum are all in their 20s.
They want shoulders to lean on. They want people to say, “I feel like that, too!” They want their tribe, their family. And family members are nice.
Occasionally on Medium I find writing that is so good I’m glad to be here. I’ll find a story that takes my breath away.
Some of these beautiful stories don’t have a lot of claps and likes. Some of these gems lay undiscovered. These stories aren’t written by writers looking for a tribe. They have something beautiful to express. Medium offers them a platform. And I am glad they are here.
