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How To Write For Human Parts On Medium

Let’s go over how to write for Human Parts on Medium.

So, as of right now, Human Parts is not accepting formal submissions from writers. According to them, they’re not accepting email submissions just because they’ve received so many.

Does this mean you can’t get in?

Absolutely not. Apparently you’re still able to get in. How? Well, here’s their recent announcement:

Due to an overwhelming number of submissions, we’re currently pausing on accepting new pitches. While we catch up on reviewing our submissions archive, we’ll continue to scour Medium for great self-published stories and reach out to writers whose work fits the description below. The best way to contribute, then? Self-publish your story on Medium, and if it’s a fit for us, trust that we’ll find it.

Wow. This message doesn’t exactly spark a lot of hope, does it?

What does “trust we’ll find it” even mean? How will they find it?

Well, let’s break that down.

They’ll Find You Via Tags

To figure out how to write for Human Parts on Medium, let’s do an experiment, shall we? I’m going to look at the 10 most-recently published stories for Human Parts. I’m going to tally some of the most-popular tags for you down below. I have no idea what’s going to come of this as I’m writing this sentence, but let’s see anyway..

Here’s what I found:

  • Self x 5
  • Identity x 2
  • Life x 2
  • Self-Improvement x 2
  • Death
  • Mental Health
  • Love
  • Love and Sex
  • Relationships
  • Self-Awareness
  • Human Prompt
  • Productivity
  • Life Lessons
  • Inspiration
  • Creativity
  • Addiction
  • Mental Health
  • Spirituality
  • Beauty
  • Mindfulness
  • Body
  • Pregnancy
  • Motherhood
  • Family

Wow, that’s a wide range of tags, but at least we have 4 that were used in more than one article. They are “self,” “identity,” “life,” and “self-improvement”

Good. Now we have a few in mind to target. It doesn’t stop there, though, let’s take a look at the top of Human Parts and see what the Navigation Bar says..

So we have identity (one of our target tags), mental health, love + sex, creativity, family, and spirituality. What do you know? All of those tags are listed above from my 10-article research project. I think it’d be best to target these tags too.

Tag It With “Human Prompt”

I bolded “human prompt” in my tags list above. Do you know why? Because Human Parts looks for stories under this tag on Medium. The other tags are just me speculating–but “Human Prompt” is for-sure a winner.

The only catch is, you have to make sure it aligns with their writing prompt. Sometimes they release “weekend writing prompts.” You have to follow their publication and pay attention for these. Here’s the latest one..

At the end of the prompt here’s what they say..

So look out for these weekend writing prompts, and make sure to tag your piece under “Human Prompt.”

Understand Their “Submissions” Guidelines

One big answer to the “How to write for Human Parts on Medium” question deals with giving the editors what they’re looking for.

You have to look at what’s already there and find ways to give them your version of that.

We can also look at their guidelines.

They mention that above everything else, they want stories that make them want to write. They want stories that play with form and voice. They want imaginative writing that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Here are the topics they want:

  • Creativity: Making things, breaking things, and finding your voice.
  • Family: Perspectives on parenting, childhood, and everything in between.
  • Identity: On the art of self-definition.
  • Love + Sex: Stories about who we connect with, and why.
  • Mental Health: Dealing with the mess inside our minds.
  • Spirituality: Brief encounters with the divine.

Oh, here’s another bit.

Tell us how you live your life, rather than telling us how we should live ours.

One big piece of advice I want to give is that you got to write about some f*cked up sh*t that happened to you. If you want to be a writer on Medium that researches their pieces and tells us how to become better meditators, this is not the publication for you.

You have to rip your heart out and put it on the page first. To be honest, I’m not sure I have a story that powerful to tell. There’s people talking about some deep, twisted stuff in this publication, and it’s beautiful.

To get into Human Parts, it takes you writing about something you’ve never written about because you’ve been too scared to before. It takes rounds of edits from other writers. It takes a willingness to play with the form of the article and basically write with no holds barred.

It takes a long time to get there creatively as a writer. I’d suggest writing at least 5 pieces minimum to warm up before shooting for Human Parts. 

The biggest mistake I could see writers making regarding how to write for Human Parts on Medium is too much focus on the lesson. Your submission shouldn’t really have much of a lesson. You’re just telling people what happened to you.

How To Write For Human Parts on Medium

Before you leave, just remember that a boatload of research is waiting for you on the homepage of Human Parts. If you want to see what will be accepted at Human Parts, read 20 articles they’ve published and you’ll subconsciously get a gist of what they want.

How many writers who want to write for Human Parts have done that before submitting something? Probably zero.

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