How To Write A Killer Medium Article In Under 45 Minutes
(And yes, I wrote this article in only 45 minutes)
Ready…set…go.
With 45 minutes on the clock, let’s see what worth and meaning I can bring you in a few measly paragraphs. Buckle up. Hopefully, this will be helpful.
Before I get into the tips, though, I feel the need to share something that will give me at least a little bit of credibility. Back in 2020, I wrote an article called “10 Ways To Guarantee Better Sleep”. Over the course of several months, that article made over $800. How long did that article take me to write?
You guessed it, about 45 minutes.
I’m sure I probably took a little bit longer to that to find some final quotes and edit a little bit, but for the most part, writing that piece involved sitting down at the window from the inside of Brusters Icecream in Huntsville, AL and churning out what little I knew about sleeping well.
Then, I did it again.
In October 2020, I published an article called 7 Things You Need To Do To Have Consistently Incredible Mornings. It made…drum roll please…
Yeah. I still don’t believe that number. My friends’ jaws usually drop when I tell them about it, and we both just sit there in disbelief. Maybe COVID and everyone still easing back into the world gave me a boost up, but I like to think I was onto something.
And, yeah, that article only took me about 45 minutes to come up with. Again, maybe a little bit longer to flesh out, edit, and add quotes to, but the majority of the work was done in under an hour.
So, here’s how I do it and how I’d recommend you go about creating your own listicle-like masterpieces:
#1: Come up with a catchy title
The thing is, no one’s going to click on your article if it doesn’t have a good name. And, I’ll be honest, I don’t begin to claim that I know the science of a good title. But I can give you a few rules and tends I’ve noticed in my own work and in the popular articles of others…
- Listicles work well if they’re specific enough and appeal to something that people want
- It’s okay to be a bit hyperbolic
- Promise your audience something
- Like any good thesis statement, tell them what you’re going to tell them — your title isn’t a place to keep secrets, but certainly a place to create intrigue about what you have to offer
Some examples of successful titles:
- Hour-by-Hour Morning Breakdowns of the World’s Greatest Individuals (see? A little hyperbolic…I don’t actually know who the “greatest” people in the world are, it just got peoples’ attention)
- 6 Extremely Unconventional Morning Routines You Can Start Using Today (I think the word “unconventional” is the thing that really got peoples’ attention…plus it’s cool to be able to start now)
- 10 Ways To Guarantee Better Sleep (this one was straight and to the point, and I think the word “guarantee” was definitely a good choice)
- 7 Things You Need To Do To Have Consistently Incredible Mornings (for some reason, this was my post popular piece…I don’t know if it’s the title or not, but I do think the title being very specific and clear was helpful)
- How I Fight My Anxiety Using Tim Ferriss’ Fear-Setting Technique (this one was incredibly specific, which is why I think it ended up doing well)
Don’t steal my titles, please. But feel free to copy the template of these or those of other famous writers. I often go to other writers to see what kind of titles they’re using to get inspiration. Oftentimes I’ll take a few moments to handwrite them, too, just to get a feel for how they roll of the tongue and how I feel once I’ve read them. I want to mimic those cadences and tones in my own titles.
#2: Maintain a humble tone
No one likes a know-it-all.
When you’re writing, make sure to speak from your limited perspective and knowledge of the world, speaking from a confident place while being honest about your limitations and what you don’t know.
In my experience, people appreciate a humble author. Confidence and humility can co-exist and aren’t mutually exclusive, and all of the best writers know how to convey this. If you don’t know what I mean, I highly recommend you go read Sean of the South or C.S. Lewis. They employ this recommendation excellently in all of their works.
#3: Come up with or find anecdotes based on real life (yours or others)
That conversation you had with your buddy Justin that week? Find a way to weave it in. That story you heard on that podcast? Write something about it. Make what you’re saying real. Allow your audience to connect with it.
Whenever I’ve given a presentation, written something in my general, shared about a book with someone, or heard a good story from someone else, I start thinking about how I could incorporate it into one of my written works.
These stories and anecdotes often breath life and intrigue into my pieces. It shows that what I’m talking about has some credibility or at least relevance to real life and the people that I go about doing life with.
#4: Share something you find interesting…other people will like it too
Make sure that your topic and all of your content in the article is something you are passionate about, interested in, and desperate to share. People can tell when you’re making stuff up and when you’re sharing from the heart.
Now onto that personal anecdote I was telling you about…just today in my professional development class I was sitting across the table from this girl I’ve talked to a few times. I can’t even remember her name, but she mentioned something about having a birthday party for her and her friend’s dogs this weekend, and I couldn’t help but share about a book I’ve been reading.
I recently picked up The Art of Gathering again by Priya Parker and have been obsessed with it any chance I get a chance to read a few pages. It’s so good. And I had to tell this girl about it — and used her referencing the “gathering” of her and her friend’s dogs to share. She ate it up, and ended up finding the book on Amazon and sending the link to one of her friends who’s majoring in Event Planning.
Because I was interested in something and saw an opportunity to share, I was able to bless her day with a new book recommendation she could pass along to a friend. It was such a pleasant interaction, and we both benefited. I think writing and reading articles on Medium.com should feel much the same way.
#5: Reference what you’ve been learning
Often times my well-performing pieces are those that refer to things I’ve been learning recently that I’ve found novel and interesting. Chances are, your audience will find those things novel and interesting too.
A great way to add more content to your pieces is to include those references. Bring up that YouTube video you saw, the new quote you read, or the technique you learned about. Share it — don’t keep it to yourself — and your readers will love it.
Recently I wrote an article about Tim Ferriss’ fear-setting technique that I had just shared with a bunch of students in the Active Minds chapter at Auburn. I had learned about it some years before and finally had the opportunity to share about it. I decided to go ahead and use the technique in my own journal and write a piece about it — and doing so made me almost $100.
People love to read about what other people are learning — because they probably want to learn it for themselves and get in on the knowledge.
#6: Use powerful quotes
One way that I’ve maintained the flow of my articles, particularly listicles, in the past is by using really good quotes. I often find them being some of the most often highlighted parts of my pieces, and I’m happy to be able to point people in the direction of some really good quotes and the people that said them originally.
This is also a really quick way to add more content and information to your pieces, extending the length of it in an efficient way for you to build off of in your forty-five minutes.
#7: Brain dump to start out
Before you even begin writing, brain dump. Whether in a GoogleDoc or in the New Story page itself, start writing everything you can think about the topic. This isn’t just to serve as an outline, but as your foundation for letting your mind start working and the words start coming.
The idea behind writing an article in forty-five-ish minutes is that you don’t stop writing. Once you begin, your eyes are glued to the screen, using lightning speed thinking, typing, and creativity to make your next literary masterpiece.
After you’ve decided which story to work on, get all of your ideas out there before you lose them. You can always cut or add them later, but you don’t want to lose any precious gems of ideas or thoughts. Get it all out there and then you’ll be ready to piece it together.
#8: Try not to worry about formatting too much in the beginning
I try to save all of my editing and formatting for last. While some of it I’ll do while I’m writing the story because it’s intuitive and I already know what I want things to look like, sometimes stopping to do the formatting gets in the way of me actually writing the story and fleshing out an idea.
Save a few minutes at the end of your allotted forty-five to rearrange and edit things how you want them — reformatting quotes, putting spaces and paragraph breaks where you need them, and restructuring your ideas. All in good time.
#9: Always back up what you’re saying
This is where the killer part of your articles comes in.
I’ve gotten in trouble a lot in the past for not having evidence. This has happened in research papers, policy debate in highschool, and in some of my Medium articles. People want to know that what you’re saying is true.
And while sometimes arguments and statements can be backed up anecdotally or seem fairly true without evidence, most people want to know that what they’re reading is true — and need proof to do so.
When you make statements, offer recommendations, or point people towards supposed facts, make sure you’re referencing or quoting someone who knows what they’re talking about. Your readers will appreciate the information, and you’ll be able to argue and make claims in good faith.
Plus, it’s another good way to add content. Referencing studies, quotes, other articles and research in general adds to your story and gives you a higher word count and more to offer to your audience.
#10: Give your reader something to do
No, your piece does not need a specific call to action.
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t push your reader in the direction of a certain action at the end of your story. It doesn’t mean you can’t tell them where they might want to look next for more information or ideas. It doesn’t mean you can’t leave them with an inspiring message or an action step to take.
When you’re writing a killer article, make sure you’re promising that your reader will be a better person after following your information/advice and living their life a different way in the way you direct. (The BetterHumans publication has a high standard of this that they hold their writers to, and for good reason.)
Sure, your promises aren’t perfect and they might forget everything you said seconds after they close the Medium app on your phone or open the next story, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try. And thankfully, we make our money off of readership, not implementation of our articles by our readers.
Give your reader something to do — and they’ll be more likely to appreciate the information you’ve given them and feel like their life has been changed by it.
Bonus tip: Get good at typing fast
I write like I talk. Which is apparently a pace, cadence, and form that people enjoy. That means that I have to be pretty speedy when it comes to t typing in order to keep up with my very wordy and quick-thinking mind.
I would highly recommend finding some typing games online and boosting your ability to churn words out. My mom had me do typing games when I was little and I as a twenty-something college student can now proudly boast speeds of over 140 words per minute on a good day.
I can also type without looking…not to flex or anything.
And if you were wondering, yes I just typed that line without looking.
And this one.
Okay I’ll look back at my computer screen now and bring this thing in for a landing.
Being successful on Medium and other writing platforms is completely within your grasp. Who knows, you might even end up like me and have the chance to have a couple of articles go viral and make you the big bucks. (I will remind you…don’t forget to save some for taxes, because that self-employment cut sucks.)
I’d encourage you to work smarter not harder. Don’t spend more time on pieces than you need to. Title, outline, research, write, edit, publish, repeat. Find a system that works for you and start putting out really good work. It won’t always land, but occasionally you’ll strike literary gold and really change some people’s lives with your writing.
Go come up with an idea you love. Time yourself. See how long it takes — and then try and shorten and optimize your process as much as possible. Maybe forty-five minutes isn’t attainable for you — and that’s fine — but know that it’s not always about putting in more time. Maybe stream of consciousness writing and putting everything out on the page and publishing is what you should do. It’s certainly worked well for me.
The world needs your expertise and your perspective. Now get to work.
Best of luck!
Kindly, Katie
(If you must know, from starting this piece to publishing it, took about 52 minutes. I guess it’s important I practice what I preach…)
