All my best stories, with Friend Link to the corresponding Medium story, on:
viconotes.com (life & self-development)
vicoxl.com (blogging & tech)
Editor of The Human Core, Inside Blogging, Davvero.
I clearly remember that day, fishing with my father.
I was ruminating on that idea for long. I was still a kid.
At some point, the question was clear: “What should I do now? What exactly should I do now?”
That question still drives today most of my research, and I’m sure it will do till the end of my life.
I’ve always been a philosopher. …
Picking moments of this weird year.
I recently joined Voice, and a post there inspired me to write the one I’m republishing here.
2020 has been a terrible year for so many, and so has been for me, beyond what you’ll see in these photos, even if I’ve been lucky on the health side and certainly luckier than others. Despite that, it’s one year of our life, and what a year! We may be eager to start a brand new 2021, but 2020 will stay there to remember for decades.
My first trip of 2020 has been in a cave. A taste of real speleology. Narrow passages and wells, for hours, with a small group and nobody else there. A bit frightening, for me, but I did that for my wife. …
How weird.
News Break doesn’t seem for me, especially since I don’t live in the US. Still, I take a look from time to time.
Today, I read — appreciating — a post of one of my Medium friends.
I also read the comments, upvoted a couple, and…
…realized that I couldn’t upvote the story itself!
You can only share and comment.
But I can have a US Coronavirus update, for free, on the same page.
I’m missing the opportunity of my blogging life, I know. Luckily, they’d reject me anyway.
It’s not about the $0.01.
Vocal seems an option, at least for republishing from Medium.
The home page is a step in the right direction. Authors have their name and face on the story. The featured picture is not seen as a useless accessory. Clean graphics. Tidy layout. Navigation is reasonable.
Tipping is there.
Reading time is missing, but things can improve. Communities are limited and pop. I’ve serious concerns about them, but that’s me. And, again, things can improve. No personalized feed, no navigation in your profile, etc. But I’ve thick skin thanks to Medium.
No comments. Ah. …
Why wasting your opportunities?
Yes, it’s a listicle. But no numbers nor bullet points. You can tolerate that if you want.
Tags are one of the most powerful tools for visibility on Medium. They allow you to address and reach an audience, make the algorithm less merciless, build a web through your posts.
But spoiling the opportunity is easy.
Spamming
Putting the sex tag in all of your stories won’t make you a sex symbol nor attract the right audience.
And for those who haven’t figured it out yet, food porn is not sex.
If they search for “sex, “ they’re hardly searching for your juicy recipe. …
Let’s test the tagging system too. Inspired by Roz Warren and caught up in a transgression impulse that can only end up being banned, let’s try to exceed ten words in a tag. Not sure if I have the courage for more.
If challenging the limits of the Medium-verse results in this being the last post of this half-working profile, thanks to Roz and all. It’s been great. Xoxo
Oh. They remembered to put limits on tags. This article turns out to be useless. But not my last. Ah!
I want them to be gems.
Poetry is so personal. Still, good poetry is not independent of rules and processes. The craft matters.
This article is not a manual. This is my way of making poetry. The writing is highly subjective, but the editing applies to a broader range of poetry.
The writing
I experimented with poetry in meter and rhyme, in my youth, and even won prizes with it. But, with time, I settled with a stable and defined free form of lyric poetry. I needed an extremely dense, minimalistic, and authentic form, so I saw any structure as an impediment.
My writing starts with inspiration. If this sounds naïve, it is. I’m probably not a poet. I’m only able to write poems on inspiration. If I try to force my writing, that’s a sure ticket to a complete disaster. …
Reinventing yourself can be a journey through hell, rather than a holiday in paradise. I know because I’ve been there. But it can also save you.
I’ve been forced, to reset. I don’t know if I would have had the strength, based on my will alone. I decided to leave a prestigious job, but out of intolerable conditions.
At first, it seemed like a holiday. Then it stroke hard. Your whole life collapses, and you’re not the person you thought was able to restart.
Still, it’s been a blessing. I could degrow and become more authentic. I started rock climbing. I restarted studying what I like. I restarted software development. That’s much more in line with the real me.
If you can change, the better. If you can’t, an unwanted push can be a blessing.
The featured picture is essential to help readers decide to read. You can improve its impact by:
- Raising emotions. Which emotions are in sync with your story? Which emotions your story promises to overcome or to raise?
- Respecting readers. Not just your audience. Put yourself in different shoes.
- Choosing representative pictures. The picture, along with the title, carries promises too.
- Being classy. Don’t rush your search. Unusual related angles will stand out.
- Avoiding to distract the reader. You need a picture focused on the message.
- Caring about quality. The poor quality of the picture could tell that you don’t care.
Juggling with the short form.
As it always happens, as soon as Medium has a good idea, it also immediately finds a way to turn it into disappointment.
In my opinion, openness to short-form can be a good idea, even if not easy to handle. Longer forms need reading context and attention. Mixing short form with more-than-one-minute posts is dangerous. We don’t want Medium to turn into Facebook. So, this thing needs special care.
I’m not much into short form, but I’m into poetry, so short form is indirectly a thing for me. And seeing the text of my poems in sunlight in my profile didn’t make me happy. …
