These alternatives may be a better choice — Lots of people think red wine is great for your heart, and some studies have shown an association between heart health and red wine consumption, but according to the British Heart Foundation, there are better ways of getting antioxidants than from red wine. They suggest consuming red and purple fruits…

Unloved, underpaid, under-appreciated — oh dear — I recently came across a very angry Medium writer, who seems to think he’s underpaid, under-appreciated and the website owes him a decent wage for writing his angry rants about whatever he’s angry about. I daren’t say anything, because I suspect he’d be angry at me too. I’d heard about…

Should new writers have to pass a test? — I’ve seen a couple of people on Medium talking about ‘real writers’ versus ‘typists’ — the implication being that some members are so bad at writing that they can’t be considered proper ‘writers’. I can see the funny side of this — and I agree that not everything on Medium…

Ignoring your comments could be a ticket to failure — People say they get more views on their Medium stories when they interact on the platform, and I’ve got a theory about why this happens. Comments are regarded as stories in their own right by Medium, and when you comment on someone’s story, you’re creating your own mini-story at the…

Don’t do what I did! — When I was 15, I was happy with my appearance until my boyfriend said I was fat, repeatedly, and then dumped me. That was it. I embarked on a starvation diet, which spiralled out of control and ended up as an eating disorder. Don’t do that. What I learned over…

Your work turns up on their website later — I write magazine articles for a living and often have difficulty with editors whose communication leaves a lot to be desired. On one occasion, a publication that only accepts articles ‘on spec’ was proving to be particularly challenging. They contacted me about an article I’d submitted because they wanted it…

The editor forgot to tell me he’d assigned me work — A few years ago, I received an email from a niche newspaper apologising that they would have to put back publication of my article because of other priorities. “What article?” I had to ask, as I knew nothing of this commission! It transpires that they wanted me to write a…

Dealing with Non-Paying Freelance Clients — Trying to get paid as a freelance writer is often a challenge. I once held one of my scheduled articles to ransom with a publisher who owed me payment for four features already. One of the unpaid invoices was 4 months overdue and I was starting to wonder if they…

When your commissioning editor goes deadly quiet — Last year I received an email response from a magazine editor saying “Yes I like the idea of this, so would be happy to commission. I’ll send you over one of our model contracts shortly”… but the model contract never arrived. I chased up a couple of times, and in…