EDITOR’S NOTE
The Writer’s Way — Submission Guideline Changelog
Latest changes — 10/18/2024
To save our writers’ time and avoid any confusion, changes made to our submission guidelines after a specific date will be detailed here.
This page does not serve as a substitute for our official submission guideline page. If you are new, see our guidelines in full through this link.
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For readability reasons, the submission guideline page is now divided into four different sections: Topic & Style, Content, Format, and Publishing.
We also added a Navigation section to help you move between sections more easily.
12 — Kicker
Two new kickers are added:
- Writing (variation of Writing Advice) — for articles featuring non traditional-writing advice
- Poem (variation of Writer’s Journal) — for poem submissions
15 — Proper Citation
c. To find copyright-free images, we recommend using these websites below:
d. Creative Commons (CC) licensed images, by definition, allow you to distribute them freely.
Nevertheless, they are not free of copyright. The creators of those images choose to share their work under certain conditions, such as that you give proper attributions or refrain from modifying the images.
To find CC-licensed images, we recommend using:
Wikimedia Commons — This website is thoughtful enough to include licensing information for virtually any image.
Click on an image, and you will see something like this:
Click on the area in the orange box. It will take you to the page that tells you what type of CC license the image is. Include the link to that page as part of your citation for the image.
Recommended format (see example in the citation of the image above):
Photo by [Author’s name] on [If available, platform or organization the photo is from]. [An embedded link to any license information]
You can view the main types of CC licenses through this link.
3 — Style
- Writing Advice: can be formatted in any style but poems, including listicles and how-to guides.
- The Writer’s Way: can be formatted in any style, excluding listicles, how-to guides, and poems.
4 — Guidelines For “Writing Advice”
a — The Writer’s Way is not a publication about SEO writing. All submissions to this category must pass through two checkpoints:
Thesis — A submission must revolve around and develop a topic/issue related to writing. This includes anything from how to build an audience online (SEO writing) to how to write an argumentative essay (traditional writing)
Purpose — A submission must discuss/aim to solve a specific problem in traditional writing. These aspects are strictly unrelated to SEO writing.
- An example:
— Appropriate purpose: to help writers use evidence more effectively in a persuasive essay
— Unrelated purpose: to help new writers produce content consistently and build an audience fast
Question you may have: What is the difference between Traditional Writing and SEO Writing?
b. Submissions that have the right Thesis but do not pass the Purpose checkpoint may be accepted if:
- (1) They include verifiable personal experience and/or well-researched information (coupled with proper citation). We want to have the sense that you know what you are writing about.
- (2) They are not related to Medium.
Topics that these submissions fall into may discuss:
— Audience building, including marketing and promotion
— Engagement strategies
— The financial side of writing
6 — Guidelines For “Writer’s Journal”
c. Submissions to this category should be between 200 to 800 words.
17 — Word Count Requirement
Except for poems and Writer’s Journal submissions, all submissions should be no shorter than 300 words (~1.03 minutes). This includes the title, the subtitle, photo captions, box-embedded links, and other non-main texts.
1 — What To Submit
The Writer’s Way features three categories and one subcategory in which our writers can submit their work. All submissions must fall into one of these categories below:
- Writing Advice: Personal stories and/or advice concerning the performative aspect of writing.
- Writer’s Life: Personal stories concerning various aspects of life.
- Writer’s Journal: a short-form styled category where writers recount their daily life experiences and jot down personal thoughts/ideas.
- The Writer’s Way: opinion pieces and stories dedicated to the exploration of literature, the writing culture, and the preservation of human creativity and individuality.
3 — Style
The Writer’s Way: can be formatted in any style, excluding listicles and how-to guides.
7 — Guidelines For “The Writer’s Way”
We currently accept stories for this category that discuss one or more of the topics below:
Personal stories on navigating the world of writing
Stories on (1) arriving at one’s writing passion and (2) enduring challenges (e.g., busy life, language barriers) that hinder one’s passion for communicating their identity, experience, and important knowledge.
Cultural Commentary on Temporary Writing
Opinion pieces on the performative nature of much contemporary writing, particularly online, where attention-seeking and self-promotion often overshadow genuine storytelling these days.
Discussions Of Books
Literary analysis of characters, themes, and plots, bringing to light the underlying message that informs, raises awareness, and mobilizes actions.
Discussions of Technology’s Role With Regard to Writing
Discussing the role of AI technology in facilitating education, entertainment, and perseverance of written knowledge, as well as expounding on the unstable potential of Generative AI and the moral imperative to preserve the nature of art, creativity, and authorship.
12 — Kicker
Kickers are no longer reserved for editors. A new kicker is added: The Writer’s Way (Learn more)
16 — Promotions
a. Business-driven CTAs (Call-to-Actions) and affiliate links are only allowed in Writing Advice. Articles submitted to this category should limit these elements to two or fewer per article each.
b. Subtle promotions and community-focused CTAs may be considered for all submission categories. Each submission should limit promotion links to three or fewer.
An example of community-focused CTAs: “Share your thoughts in the comments.”
18 — Tags
The Writer’s Way: Artificial Intelligence, AI, Technology, Culture, Publishing, Market, Language, Books, Book Review, Books And Authors, Literature, Art, Creativity, Identity, Individuality,
2 — Topic
c. Discussion of political themes (e.g., justice, human rights) aimed at broad societal concerns may be accepted. Please avoid overtly political references and/or endorsement (or implication of endorsement) to a political candidate, party, or affair.
4 — Guidelines For “Writing Advice”
a. Submissions that involve the publishing aspects of writing will not be displayed in the Advice tab. Meta articles (articles about Medium) that involve these aspects will not be accepted.
The publishing aspects of writing include, but are not limited to:
- Audience building, including marketing and promotion
- Engagement strategies
- The financial side of writing
b. Writing advice that *unduly* appeals to the market (e.g., catchy titles, viral formulas) may face rejection. We seek your experience and depth of substance in your advice, not viral formulas that have been exploited so many times for quick posts.
6 — Guidelines For “Writer’s Journal”
c. Strive for 1 to 3 minutes in length, and do not exceed 4 minutes (~800 words)
15 — Proper Citation
b. Any elements used in your images, including those from platforms like Canva, should still be credited properly. Check licensing terms before use.
18 — Tags
a. “The Writers Way” is now the only required tag for your submission
19— Draft Submissions
b. Submissions will not be processed on Sunday. Any submission received on this day will be reviewed starting Monday.
(!) — Interactive Guidelines
Interactive guidelines are a new tool aiming to help reviewers process materials and avoid missing important submission requirements.
This tool is not a substitute for our submission guideline page. There are details and nuances as well as important ethical information that cannot be conveyed in this tool alone. Please read the entirety of our guidelines before using it.
Click “Review” in the panel below to use the tool. You can also access this panel on our submission guideline page.
4 — Guidelines For “Writing Advice”
b. Meta articles (articles about Medium) that don’t offer any advice or insight relevant to the task of writing will not be accepted.
c. We will reject work that uses numbers to fish for views and claps but contains shallow advice and false promises. As a rule of thumb, don’t just focus on the how much but also the how and the why of the numbers.
6 — Guidelines For “Writer’s Journal”
b. This category looks for personal experience, not prescriptive advice. This is not to say you can’t conclude your piece with some advice to give, but we encourage you to prioritize your own experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Authenticity and connection first and foremost.
9 — Use of AI
b. Any work that is blatantly generated by AI — or has a reason to be suspected of being generated by AI — will be outright rejected. In response to the rise of AI-manufactured identities, AI use to aid in the writing process in a way that undermines individuality, authenticity, and creativity is also rejected.
c. Effective July 1st, 2024, technology will be used in our process of determining unauthentic/irresponsible AI use in your submissions. Multiple AI checkers will be in use, including ChatGPT Zero, one of the most powerful AI checkers we can find.
We are aware of the flaws of AI checkers and their controversial and potentially unjust contributions to the literary world. This problem is worth considering as much as the AI-generated work disaster that grows indefinitely in this blazing era of AI technology.
We strive to be fair and clear with our AI-checking process by combining AI checks with human review in a three-step process (see the link below). If a submission raises concerns about AI use, we will reach out to the author for clarification before taking any action.
Unless an appeal is sent our way, any profile justly concluded to use AI exploitatively and irresponsibly will be revoked from our publication by the timeframe outlined in our message.
Question you may have: How do we determine whether or not a submission is AI-generated?
11 — Heading Format
c. Avoid absolutes (words like always, never, ultimate, the secret, no one, etc.) in your title and subtitle. Instead of “The secret to writing every day no one wants to tell you about”, try “A Surprising Habit That Makes Me Write More Often. You Might Want To Try It”.
18 — Tags
a. We suggest using these popular tags below to help your work receive the most exposure. Tags marked with (*) are required for their corresponding category.
- Writing Advice: Writing Advice*, Writing, Writers on Writing, Writing Tips, Writing Life, Writing Advice, Writing On Medium, Writing Journey, Writing Goals, Writing Ideas.
- Writer’s Life: Writers Life*, Memoir, Personal Essay, Personal Story, Personal Growth, Personal Development, Advice, Life Lessons, Relationships, Mental Health, Travel, Inspiration, Life.
- Writer’s Journal: Writers Journal*, This Happened To Me, Diary, Journal, Journaling, Thoughts, Thoughts and Feelings, Ideas, Opinion
19 — Draft Submissions
a. Please submit only one story per author each day.
c. Already-published submissions are manually added to the publication by our editor. Thus, their scheduled times also depend on our editor’s availability.
20 — Consent to Editing
c. To ensure your submission is considered, please address our notes within 3 days of receiving them. If we don’t hear back within that timeframe, we’ll need to return your submission for your reference. Once you’ve made the necessary changes, simply resubmit your work at your convenience.
2 — Topic
a. To ensure a smooth submission process, we recommend sticking to the suggested topics within each category below:
- Writing Advice: can include, but is not limited to:
— Tips on how to write consistently and make progress
— Guidance on dealing with rejection, writer’s block, self-doubt, etc.
— Personal stories about achievements and positive impact of writing
- Writer’s Life: Relationships, Mental Health, Habits & Productivity, and Travel & Adventure.
- Writer’s Journal: Personal thoughts & observations and recounts of daily life experience.
b. While we prioritize the topics listed above, we may consider accepting submissions outside these areas if they align with our current categories. However, acceptance isn’t guaranteed.
c. To ensure a constructive, engaging, and innovative environment for our readers and writers, we will not accept any submission that engages in these activities below, even if it falls into one of our submission categories:
- Provocative discussions of political figures
- Prejudiced discussions of controversial or sensitive issues
- Spread of religious propaganda
- Spread of unverifiable claims and misinformation
3 — Style
All submissions must follow the required style for their respective categories:
- Writing Advice: can be formatted in any style, including listicles and how-to guides.
- Writer’s Life: memoirs, personal narratives, and personal essays.
- Writer’s Journal: poems, journal entries, diary entries, flash nonfiction.
4 — Guidelines For “Writing Advice”
a. Submissions that involve aspects of writing but do not address the act of writing itself (see the Topic section above), will not be displayed in the Advice tab. These aspects include, but are not limited to:
- Audience building, including marketing and promotion
- Engagement strategies
- Financial aspects of writing
10 — Personal Stories
a. Personal stories are a huge part of The Writer’s Way. They should be nuanced. They should capture unique voices to make sure the reader, after reading them, feels like they have traversed through a journey of some sort.
Do not just use “I” and call it personal. Do not give superficial advice based on some cheap and overused stereotype. Do not try to be the guru who claims to know it all. Stand in your truth and tell us a story about you. It is that simple.
11— Heading Format
b. For your title, capitalize all the words except the shortest ones. Go to this link, paste your title, and click “Title Case” to check for capitalizations.
12— Kicker
b. Two new kickers are added: The Writer’s Way Prompt and Editor’s Note
- The Writer’s Way Prompt: used for submissions participating in our prompt writing challenge
- Editor’s Note: used for official announcement posts from our editors
13— Body Format
c. Images should only be used for:
- The headline
- Separating big chunks of texts
- Separating different sections of the article
- Helping readers visualize and understand events and analysis
Avoid using too many images. To separate texts and sections of your article, you can also use a divider besides images, like the one right below this sentence.
15— Proper Citation
c. Within the image credits, clearly list the author’s name and link it to their profile on the original source. If you use an Unsplash image, that will automatically be done for you. If you use an image from other similar sources, we recommend you follow this citing format:
Photo by [Author’s name] on [Platform where the photo is originally from]
16 — Promotions
a. CTAs (Call-to-Actions) and affiliate links are only allowed in Writing Advice. Articles submitted to this category should limit these elements to two or fewer per article each.
b. Subtle promotions (as opposed to CTAs) may be considered for all submission categories. Each submission should limit promotion links to three or fewer.
c. Self-promotion in the form of box-embedded links should be put at the bottom of your article. In-article promotions may be accepted if they directly connect to and/or support the topic you are discussing.
21 — Private Notes
a. Edits and suggestions from your editor will appear as private notes on your submission. Make sure that private notes are allowed on your posts.
Go to Settings (Click your profile icon)→ Publishing → Tick the box next to “Allow readers to leave private notes on your stories” to enable private notes.
b. If we cannot leave private notes on your submission, we will let you know by leaving a clear message at the top of your article. We will also return your submission to notify you about the situation. Once you enable private notes and resubmit your work, we can pick up the review process right where we left off.
