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12 Insights from 6 Years Writing on Medium
What works, what doesn’t, and how to serve readers and find success
When I began writing on Medium Jan. 1, 2019, I had high hopes given 30 years experience as a writer, editor and manager at newspapers and online publications. I knew what sorts of stories work, how to write them, and how to build an audience.
Boy did I have a lot to learn.
My first Medium story has, to date, garnered a grand total of 57 views. But after six years and more than 900 stories written and hundreds more edited for a publication I run, I’ve learned a thing or two about what Medium readers value and how to serve them by respecting their expectations of quality storytelling. Here are a dozen insights for writers trying to break through the noise.
1. Medium readers like stories, not articles.
When you want to know how to cure a hangover, or how to change the oil in your car, or what DEI means, you might Google it. Search results will point you to countless fact-packed, soulless articles that will almost surely answer your question. Click in, glean what you need, click out.
Stories, on the other hand, are much more than reference articles, much more than regurgitations of information crafted to…
