A 3-Step Guide to Start Writing on Medium
A guide to your first post and more
When starting to write on a platform such as Medium, one of the biggest first obstacles for many writers is the first post. Here is my 3-step guide to begin as a newer writer.
Step 1. Write
Writing is a simple concept; however, the first hurdle comes in the form of finding out what to write about.
A lot of writers have a niche — a certain topic they are well versed in and are able to write informative articles about. See what passions you have and whether or not the information may be helpful to others.
If you can’t think of any niche, just write to write. As a new writer, writing to write might be the most efficient way to start out. It just means you sit down and write whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about editing your post just yet, and just let all the thoughts run out first. Once that’s done you can start step 2.
Step 2. Review
Once you’re finished writing your story once straight through, it’s finally time to review and edit. At this point, it’s up to your personal preference who you want to edit your story.
You can…
1. Read through yourself to catch errors
2. Use an online service such as Grammarly to check your writing
3. Peer review with another writer
4. Find a writing review strategy or a mix of strategies that's best for you.
Reviewing your writing is based on personal preference and not every writer will have the same process.
Step 3. Post
For a lot of people step 3 is where they get stuck — posting their first story on a blog site or a platform such as Medium.
It’s very easy to be extremely critical of your writing and spend countless hours sitting through trying to fix and tweak every minor detail. While it’s good to stay critical as it fosters improvement, there comes a point where the story must be posted.
The first start to growing as a writer on a platform such as Medium is to post. As you post more, you’ll slowly improve as you get feedback on your post as well as just off natural growth over time. The more you write, the more you’ll improve however it all starts from your first post.
Understand that you might not get the views you want the first time around, but you’ve already gotten passed one of your biggest hurdles.
So, stop worrying and start posting!
