7 Steps to publish a medium post in under 90 minutes
Overcoming inertia and getting the stone rolling is often the hardest thing for people to do. It may seem oversimplified to say that the best way to get started is to just start but it really is. In case you doubt that advice or indeed the title of this article, this is my first medium post — it’s published and I started it 87 minutes ago. Now, let’s get cracking…
1. Create an account on Medium - like, right now
It’s possible that you already have one and if so, that’s great — you’ve already got one of seven steps out the way! Go you! But in the event that you haven’t, go on and sign up right now. Done? Good.
Now you’ve started, you may not have taken the biggest step just yet but you’ve taken a step — and that’s what really matters. as Lao Tzu wrote thousands of years ago in the Tao Te Ching, “A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
Now, let’s take 6 more.
2. Commit 100% to completing your post within the next 90 minutes
Perhaps you’re reading this at work or just before you have to head somewhere important, and you don’t have the next 90 minutes available. If that’s the case, stop. Stop right now, bookmark this link and come back to it later. It’s vitally important that you commit yourself entirely if you want to publish your post now.
Once you’ve truly committed yourself to a task, completing it is no longer a challenge, it becomes second nature. I could, and probably will at some point, write a post dedicated to the benefits of committing wholeheartedly to whatever it is you want to achieve, but for now I’ll just leave you with a single quote:
“99% is a bitch, 100% is a breeze” — Jack Canfield
I committed myself to completing this article and if you’re reading this, it worked for me and will work for you.
3. Be prepared to be amateur - Done now is better than perfect never
Great, now that you’ve committed yourself 100% to completing this article let’s deal with the last emotional hurdle before getting into the creating.
Is this the best article you’ve ever read? I sure as hell hope not. Seriously, there are a lot of good writers out there - go and find them. It is published though. It made it out of my mind, through the keyboard and onto the screen in front of your eyes. It’s not perfect, and it’s my first attempt, but I’ve done what I set out to do.
I don’t have a blog I commit to posting on - but I really want to and if I’m not willing to publish this article or the next 100 after it (which probably won’t be very good either), I’ll never become great at writing and that’s what I want to do. I imagine that since you’re reading this post you have similar ambitions. So let’s be vulnerable, put our egos aside and get our thoughts out there.
4. Write your conclusion
Great, let’s do a quick recap of where we are:
- You’ve created a Medium account
- You’ve committed to completing this article
- You’ve prepared yourself mentally and emotionally for publishing it while knowing it’s not necessarily going to be the greatest piece of writing ever
So now you need to decide on the point of the post, the message you’re trying to get out there. You need to start where you want to finish - and work backwards from there.
I started with the conclusion that:
“It is completely possible to publish an article on Medium, having never done so before, if you just sit down and commit yourself to the cause, and allow yourself only 90 minutes to get there.“ — Ed O’Reilly
Remember again that this conclusion doesn’t have to be revolutionary, it doesn’t have to change the world or make you seem clever. You’ve got something to say, we all do. You’ve said many things before in conversation, in arguments. Say one of them here, make a point, be wrong, be right — decide on where you’re going to end and write that down.
It doesn’t have to be well written, or succinct. It doesn’t even have to be original but it does have to be written down before you go any further.
Remember, you can do this!
“The urge, starting out, is to copy. And that’s not a bad thing. Most of us only find our own voices after we’ve sounded like a lot of other people. But the one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.” — Neil Gaiman
5. Write your introduction
Introduce your topic. Don’t waffle on, state, as simply as you possibly can, what this article is about and why you’re writing it. If you want to get all fancy, try and lure the reader in with some sort of hint at the value contained inside, but really that’s not the most important thing.
Remember our goal here is to publish our first Medium article in the next 90 minutes, to overcome our anxieties and life inertia and to actually get this done, without compromise. If someday when you’re famous you don’t want this poorly written article tarnishing your name, which it probably wouldn’t anyway, you can always just remove it.
So start working on the introduction, tell us what the post is about. Have the first attempt written before you carry on.
6. Write your body
This part is largely up to you but having decided on your conclusion and having written your introduction, really what you’re doing now is just bridging the gap between the two.
Explore your style, write down your thoughts. Maybe they’re wrong? Who cares, let’s get them down now and worry about that later. Remember, you haven’t hit publish just yet. You probably still have 60 (or more) minutes to refine this — that’s plenty of time. Write them down now, refine them all later.
I found it easier to divide this section of the work into 7 steps. I write these down first and then filled out the content supporting each claim. Not all topics are well suited to list-style writing but many can be, and if it helps you get this one done then go for it! Is there a set of steps that logically leads you from your introduction to your conclusion?
7. Publish and share
Here goes. The big moment. Hit publish. Just do it. Overcome the final step and put yourself out there. I’m about to do it and I hope it feels as good as I believe it will.
I’m going to share it too. I know, scary right? Really I think it’s the only way it will get enough exposure for me to learn from this experience and improve. So here goes.
What next?
I don’t know… We’re in the same boat now you and I. Personally I’m going to read absolutely everything I can about writing and reach out to those around me who do it well.
I’m also going to commit myself to writing another post in the next week. On what? I have no idea yet — but I’m excited.
Call to action
If this resonated with you, then please share it. Help me get out there. If you’re able to help me get better at writing, then I’d love to hear from you.
