Lack of transparency doesn’t justify tin foil hat conspiracies. I hope Medium is listening. I hope they fix it.
When users of one platform take legitimate complaints to another platform, you know two things. One, there’s a problem. Two, it’s not being addressed in a way that alleviates the frustration.
I saw a YouTube video about Medium problems…
I am not naming the person who made the video because I don’t name people. That’s not how I roll, and if you name the person I’ll delete your comment, just so you know. This isn’t about “who” made a video, it’s about what’s happening on Medium, right here, right now.
First thing. The creator of the video is no slouch as far as Medium goes. It was made…
Women aren’t equal because men don’t want them to be
Alice was a fighter. When women prison guards tried to forcibly rip her clothes off, she fought so hard they had to call male guards to help.
The shockingly inappropriate act of male prison guards ripping the clothing off a woman got extensive press coverage for her case.
She wasn’t done yet.
She’d been sentenced to 30 days, so she refused to eat. They force fed her. It was so torturous that by the end of her 30 day sentence, she had to be carried from the prison to a doctor. She had permanent gastric damage.
Her crime? Protesting for…
Writing more won’t help if you’re making mistakes that kill results. Long post warning. Like a course, but no fluff.
Last week I wrote about established writers struggling on Medium and seeing their views drop as much as 50%. While true, the post was disheartening to new writers who are just getting started.
“Oh, great. I’m starting at the worst time…”
A lot of new writers said that. And it is tough here right now. So I’m writing this for writers who are struggling to get some traction here.
Can I be blunt?
Know what the most common advice people give new writers here?
Write more.
Write every day.
Write twice a day.
Stop looking at your stats and write. Write and then write some more. Put your head down and write…
Here’s to beginnings…
Everything starts small, right? I just published my first guest writer on my new publication, History of Women. It’s a good read. Enjoy…
Farewell, Siobhan, you’ll be missed, but we know you’ll kick butt no matter where you go from here.
First — Siobhan O'Connor, you will be missed. I wanted to start there. Thanks for the smiles you brought to this place for a while. We all know you’ll kick butt wherever you land next.
A note to readers who have no idea what I’m talking about..
If you clicked because of the title, but have no idea what this is about… Yesterday, Ev posted that Medium is changing direction and offering buyouts to editorial employees who want to leave. That news made The New York Times…
This post is instead of leaving an obnoxiously long comment on Ev’s post. I hate that. My theory is, if you have that much to…
Two are so short you should just get them on Kindle.
William Nicholson writes plays for television, and he’s good at it. Really good at it. He wrote Shadowlands and Life Story , both which won the BAFTA the year they came out.
He’s won the Royal Television Society’s Writer’s Award, had a Tony Award winning run on Broadway, and was nominated for an Oscar. If I listed all the awards he’s won, it would take up this whole article. So I won’t.
Instead, I want to tell you a very powerful thing he said.
“We read to know we’re not alone.”
― William Nicholson
Think about that for a minute…
It’s not just hours. Quality of sleep matters, too.
Imagine that every night you went to bed with a filthy house, and woke up to find it sparkling clean. Like the fairytale about the Shoemaker and the Elves, except instead of making shoes, they’re cleaning your house.
That’s how your brain works. Literally.
Your brain makes garbage cells. Sleep washes them away
Have you ever heard of beta amyloid? It’s brain garbage. Not even kidding. Beta amyloid is a metabolic waste product found between your brain cells.
Your brain makes those garbage cells all day while you’re awake. It’s not something you can control or prevent, anymore than we can stop shedding skin cells or hair. …
Photos of the circular stone staircase, Tudor fireplaces, English gardens, and Henry VIII’s bedroom with a ten-foot bed
Thornbury Castle is one of the few Tudor castles standing today, and it’s where King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn spent their ten-day belated honeymoon in 1535, two years after they married.
The sheer size is astonishing
The castle spans fifteen acres of grounds and gardens. It’s one of the last great baronial castles standing and when it was built, it was one of the last castles big enough to provide sufficient quarters for an entire private army.
“Never had the Queen looked so beautiful”
William Kingston tapped on the door of Anne Boleyn’s apartments. It was nine a.m. on May 19, 1536. She was ready and waiting.
Picking up the skirts of her damask gown, she carefully made her way down the fifteen steps. At the bottom of the staircase, the king’s guard awaited. They stood attentive, swords at their sides, every brawny fellow dressed in the king’s familiar bright-red livery.
She began her final walk. William Kingston, Constable of the Tower of London and her jailor, led the tiny procession, walking in front of the queen. Her ladies followed in pairs behind her.
…
They found Sarah’s body. True “nice guys” are the minority.
Wednesday, March 3, Sarah Everard left her friend’s house to walk home. They found her body on March 9, concealed in a wooded area more than 50 miles from where she’d been abducted. She was 33 years old.
She wasn’t drunk or in a bar, not that those would or should matter. She was just walking home. On a Wednesday. She even talked to her boyfriend on the phone while she walked, and was spotted on a doorbell cam.
