Member-only story
Give Me Substance, Something I Can Digest
Your headline tells the reader what to expect, not to leave them wanting
In my time on Medium, I have read hundreds, if not thousands, of stories. The vast majority of stories deliver on their headline. Sometimes a story might be a little underwhelming, but they still deliver on what the title promises.
However, I have been finding an increasing circumstance where stories just do not deliver. Not just a little off the mark, they do not even provide any substance on what the title promises.
Lacking Substance
The most recent example of this triggered me to write this story. I will not do the writer the favour of linking their story here. But the story title was “Good, Better, Best Medium Publications.”
In my mind, I was expecting a story that would share a list of publications which might fit the title. I was expecting this list to be in the author’s opinion. But I was expecting mention of multiple publications. I believed this to be a fair expectation, especially considering the “s” at the end of the word publications.
The story, though, was just 140 words. It mentioned just one publication. With a focus at the end, focusing on just one publication. A publication, they say, was the reason…
