12 Insights from 6 Years Writing on Medium

What works, what doesn’t, and how to serve readers and find success

Ed. Note: I wrote this post initially for writers on Medium. If you’re a Medium member, you can read it there. I’ve republished it here because most of the advice applies to writing anywhere, regardless of platform or publication. —Rob

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Image: Fedorova Ekaterina/Shutterstock. Used under the writer’s license.

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 garner search traffic. A story is immersive. A story has a soul.

Stories take readers on a journey, even if it’s a brief one, with a compelling beginning, a meaningful middle, and a delightful end — a story arc that might include compelling anecdotes, perhaps personal experiences, or maybe expert professional analysis or advice. Medium readers don’t search for your stories, and Google does not prioritize your Medium profile. To get your writing discovered, that leaves social media and Medium’s, well, you know…

2. Algorithms create anxiety.

None of us knows how the algorithms work, and that’s by design. And it’s a good thing. The best writing never aims to please a bot. Write for readers, not algorithms. Write from your heart and soul, not your pocketbook. The only antidote to algorithm angst is quality storytelling about compelling topics.