Secret Toolkit for Beginners to Enhance Your Medium Draft
The tools and tips that have been helping me navigate through Medium since day one.
Capitalise The Title
Capitalising beautifies the title. Various formats exist for lawyers, journalists, and academics. All use capitalisation in their literature. I am not aware of the origin of this tactic, but it works like a charm. I learned this when I was publishing my first story on Medium. The editor of the publication commented on my draft with the request to capitalise on the article’s heading.
At first, it may appear convoluted, but you will get better at it. You can begin by verifying your format with the help of capitalizemytitle.com. It also provides a headline score, which we will talk about in a bit.
Create a Vibrant Title
The title is the first thing that people notice about your article. It’s the one thing that makes or breaks the deal.
Use a call to action in your title. Some examples could be “Try writing for 10 days”, “Get your dream job”, or “Trek in the Alps”.
Include power words in your title. This emphasizes credibility and builds trust in the content. For greater impact, add words like “proven,” “undisclosed,” “remarkable,” and “astonishing”.
Use this headline analyzer to evaluate your headline on different parameters.
Create a Subheading in Two Sentences
I design the sub-heading to explain the header. It creates curiosity in the reader's mind without revealing the key message. Additionally, it should link back to the headline and create a scope for the main content.
Listicles to the Rescue
Many writers have criticised listicles, and they have valid reasons for it. Yet, I love listicles. They appear to be already structured without much effort. Many times, readers want to absorb the message without reading the full content. Listicles provide them with the option to choose and save time.
As a writer, it is easier to format listicles. Try writing one and observe its readability and audience response. You can use the Hemingway editor to assess your article on various metrics. It also presents a readability score for your article. Anything above 5 is good.
The Smaller Things
- Use Grammarly while editing your article. Articles with erroneous sentences tend to get rejected often.
- Avoid usage of adverbs ending with ‘ly’, such as ‘absolutely’, ‘really’, ‘actually’. Find an alternate word to describe the comparative or superlative action.
- Thoughts can pop up anywhere. Jot them down on your phone notepad. Record and save it as an audio file for reference. These are precious, so don’t park them for later.
I hope you benefit from my learning. I look forward to hearing from you about your experience. All the best in your writing journey.
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