Article | How-To | Promptly Written
Story Formatting
How to create aesthetically pleasing story formats
I have OCD and to prevent it from rearing its ugly head when I am writing, I follow the same story format for everything I publish. It turns out, this is how Medium prefers stories to be formatted. I discovered this by looking at all of my stories chosen for Distribution and those not chosen. Turns out, there was nothing wrong with my formatting, but it was my stories’ content that decided if they would be chosen for Distribution or not. But yes, the formatting is also taken into consideration — is the story’s format aesthetically pleasing for the reader? Because ultimately, it is the reader who will decide if they want to stick around and read your stories.
So what’s the deal with all this formating nonsense? As I mentioned above, along with your stories’ content, Medium looks for how well you’ve formatted your stories. So this does matter! (Note: not all formatting may be available on the mobile app. I do know Medium is working to resolve this. So if are using the mobile app and you try anything listed here and cannot get it to work, this could be the reason. You can always leave a private note on your story asking one of the PW editors to format it for you)
Here is how I generally format my stories regardless of whether they are poems, fiction pieces, essays, or articles:
- A well-defined KICKER — Check out this excellent article by Casey Botticello on what kickers are and how to use them
- A well-formulated TITLE — Titles should only be as long as necessary. A shorter title is preferred over a longer one. Some suggest that ‘Every Word In The Title Be Capitalized’, others suggest that “the,” “an,” and “a” which are called articles, not be capitalized unless they begin the title. The choice is yours. However, do not totally capitalize your entire title. I know this sounds cliched these days, but all caps really do feel like one is being shouted at. If your story is a good one, you do not need to shout (or use more than one exclamation point!)
- A useful SUBTITLE — Subtitles should be used as an extension of the title to tell the reader what else they can expect in the story. Or, if you want your reader to know what your story is — A poem, Fiction, Flash fiction, etc. Only the first word of your subtitle should be capitalized.
Here is an article by Medium Creators that explain where to place your Titles and Subtitles, as well as how to use the ‘T’ and ‘t’ in the editing tools to create section dividers in your stories.
- An appropriate IMAGE — You should pick an image that blends well with your story. (FYI — if you write erotica, never include a nude image as your lead image unless it is tasteful and doesn’t show any of those body parts.) Always use a copyright-free image or a personal image that you created. If you are using an image from Unsplash, it will be cited for you. You will need to cite all other images from other sources. I suggest you read this excellent article by Eunice Park on where to find images and how to cite them.
All of these come before I begin writing my story. Let’s move on to the body of your story.
- If you are writing poetry or fiction, your TITLE should be the title of your poem or fiction piece. You will not need to repeat your title. Just begin writing your poem or fiction piece. Use the three-dot section break under the editing tools (. . .) to break up sections of your poems if needed or sections of your fiction piece to break up long paragraphs that move through a timeline.
- If you are writing an article or essay, you may want to divide it up into sections to help guide your readers along. You can do this in a couple of ways — use the ‘T’ to add a titled section, use the ‘t’ to add titled subsections under the Titled Section, use photographs or images to divide up your article or essay, or use the three-dot section break under the editing tools (. . .)
- Using the quote format under the editing tools —If you quote something written by someone else, click the “ tool once. It will put the quote in a lined box and in italics. Be sure to credit who you are quoting under the quote but still within the lined box. If you want to quote yourself or to emphasize something in your essay or article that you want others to notice, click the “ tool twice. This will enlarge your words in a grey-ish color and center them on the page.
- At the end of your poem, fiction piece, essay, or article, you can choose to use a copyright handle. This is not necessary because once you publish something under your name on Medium, it belongs to you. However, if you want to add a copyright, I suggest using this format — ©(the year) (your name with a period at the end) All Rights Reserved. Here is what my copyright currently looks like — ©2021 Lori Carlson. All Rights Reserved.
What Can You Add After Your Story?
This can be tricky and it varies from publication to publication, so always check their guidelines. Here is what’s acceptable on Promptly Written and by Medium’s standards:
- If you’ve used someone’s prompt, TAG them and drop a LINK to the Prompt. Here is a screenshot example of a recent tag and link that I used in an essay. (You can also do this if you want to give a shoutout to someone and a piece of their work you enjoyed.)
- Links for up to (4) four of your own stories
- Your affiliated Medium membership referral link
- A link to a LIST you’ve created
- A Call-To-Action (this would be any links that take one away from Medium — a Ko-fi or Buy Me A Cup link, a link to your books for sale (like on Amazon), a link to a charity site you support, etc. Promptly Written will accept (2) two CTAs. If you have more than 2 CTAs, you can rotate them on your stories. CTAs must be clearly written that they are calls to action for monetary reasons (Buy Me a Cup of Coffee, Buy Me a Book, My books for sale, or I support and contribute to this charity, organization, etc). Do not hide them anonymously under a link — Medium will slap you hard for this.
- You may list links to your social media sites and an offsite blog. Promptly Written does not consider these CTAs, but other publications may so check their guidelines.
- An Author’s Bio of up to 100 words. Some publications prefer shorter bios, so be sure to check their guidelines. You may include a small picture with your author’s bio. You can also include Medium links in your bio, or choose to include your social media sites, or on-Medium or offsite blogs. Please do not use your Bio for CTAs.
Please check out this poem of mine where I have used some of these formatting techniques (Note: This poem is demonetized so even non-Medium membership writers/readers can read it).
If you have any questions or comments about any of the above How-To on story formatting, please leave me a comment below.
Thanks for reading, everyone!
~Ravyne Hawke, EIC
