Editor’s Note
The Writer’s Way — Submission Guidelines
Updated —9/13/2024
This is the official Submission Guideline page for the Medium publication The Writer’s Way. Learn more about the publication or become a writer here.
Interactive Guidelines — Review
Interactive guidelines are a 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 below before using it.
Click “Review” in the panel below to use the tool.
Topic & Style
Content
4 — Guidelines For “Writing Advice”
5 — Guidelines For “Writer’s Life”
6 — Guidelines For “Writer’s Journal”
7 — Guidelines For “The Writer’s Way”
8 — Nonfiction Only
9 — Use of AI
10 — Personal Stories
Format
11 — Heading Format
12 — Kicker
13 — Body Format
14 — Basic Grammar and Punctuation Rules
15 — Proper Citation
16 — Promotions
17 — Word Count Requirement
Publishing
18 — Tags
19 — Draft Submissions
20 — Consent to Editing
21 — Private Notes
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.
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 find one’s writing voice and style
— Suggestions on things such as effective research and information organization
— 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.
- The Writer’s Way: see section #7
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
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.
3 — Style
All submissions must follow the required style for their respective categories:
- Writing Advice: can be formatted in any style but poems, 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, and opinion pieces.
- 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
c. 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.
d. 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.
5 — Guidelines For “Writer’s Life”
a. Submissions to this category must be about you, not about the readers. Aspects like what you have learned and how your experience has shaped your life should be the main factor that drives the story forward.
b. A story consisting of a train of thoughts and opinions will not be accepted. It should at least have a clear setting, a character (you), and some plot.
6 — Guidelines For “Writer’s Journal”
a. You are not supposed to do research for this category. It is just you, your experience, and the world as you know it. If any claim is made, back it up with your knowledge and personal experience.
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 it is encouraged to put down your own experiences, thoughts, and feelings first. Authenticity and connection first and foremost.
c. Submissions to this category should be between 200 to 800 words.
Question you may have: How do I distinguish between “Writer’s Journal” and “Writer’s Life”?
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.
8 — Nonfiction Only
a. Your stories, including any advice and events, should be based on the real world.
b. For the sake of storytelling, let your mind fill the gap with reasonable–and enjoyable–made-up details. The point is not to fabricate anything but to conveniently deliver a message through verifiable experience.
9 — Use of AI
a. Various AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Grammarly, may be used to generate ideas, organize your piece, and proofread your final draft.
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?
10— Personal Stories
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
a. Your work should always contain a title, a relevant subtitle, and an image to ensure the consistency of display quality in our publication.
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.
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”.
d. The subtitle is recommended to be no longer than two lines, and the headline image may be above or below your title.
12— Kicker
A kicker is the text above the title. Our editor will use the text to categorize your submissions.
Currently in-use kickers are Writing Advice, Writer’s Life, Writer’s Journal, The Writer’s Way, The Writer’s Way Prompt, and Editor’s Note.
Question you may have: Why are kickers used? What are the different categories of kickers?
13— Body Format
a. Except for poems, submissions that overuse one- or two-line paragraphs may get rejected.
b. For the sake of artistic expression, continuous one-line paragraphs may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
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.
14 — Basic Grammar and Punctuation Rules
Basic grammar and punctuation rules should be met.
15 — Proper Citation
a. Any mentioned quote and data should be linked to the source it is pulled from, using a hyperlink like this.
b. Any image used in your work should be owned by you, licensed, or copyright-free (view Medium’s copyright policy).
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]
Additionally, any elements used in your images, including those from platforms like Canva, should still be credited properly. Check licensing terms before use.
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.”
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.
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.
18— Tags
a. General tags recommended for each category:
- Required Tag: The Writer’s Way
- Writing Advice: Writing, Writers on Writing, Writing Tips, Writing Life, Writing Advice, Writing On Medium, Writing Journey, Writing Goals, Writing Ideas.
- Writer’s Life: Memoir, Personal Essay, Personal Story, Personal Growth, Personal Development, Advice, Life Lessons, Relationships, Mental Health, Travel, Inspiration, Life.
- Writer’s Journal: This Happened To Me, Diary, Journal, Journaling, Thoughts, Thoughts and Feelings, Ideas, Opinion.
- The Writer’s Way: Artificial Intelligence, AI, Technology, Culture, Publishing, Market, Language, Books, Book Review, Books And Authors, Literature, Art, Creativity, Identity, Individuality.
These tags are not exclusive to their respective submission category. Please use a combination of them where applicable.
b. We recommend using multiple tags on your article (maximum of 4) to increase the chance of your work being seen. Please leave one spot for our editor to put the required tag.
19 — Draft Submissions
a. Please submit only one story per author each day.
b. Submissions will not be processed on Sunday. Any submission received on this day will be reviewed starting Monday.
b. Draft submission is optional, meaning you can submit an already-published story to The Writer’s Way.
c. Our articles are listed from newest to oldest on the Latest page, so a story published a long time ago might not get seen by as many readers. Additionally, already-published submissions are manually added to the publication by our editor. Thus, their scheduled times also depend on our editor’s availability.
d. We prioritize scheduling draft submissions whenever possible. This does not mean published works get pushed aside entirely, but drafts tend to move through our publishing queue a bit quicker. We see that this is only fair for those who submitted their drafts and want to see their work published as soon as possible.
20 — Consent to Editing
a. Your work must be fairly polished before being submitted. A poorly formatted piece below our standards may get returned.
b. If necessary, we may conduct an editing session for your work; any noticeable changes we have made will be detailed in private notes.
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.
d. Repeated failure to adhere to suggestions left in private notes may get your future work rejected.
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.
Because the publication is in its earlier development, these submission guidelines are subject to changes. To ensure you have the most up-to-date information concerning news and updates, go to https://medium.com/@ArtisKev/list/the-writers-way-publication-news-updates-45b2fcd8c2b0 and save the list.
We welcome your contributions! If you’re interested in submitting your work, please reach out to us here. Thank you for considering The Writer’s Way!
