Cover Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels (adapted)
What are your writing superpowers?
Let’s start with an interesting question: What makes your favourite writers so remarkable you keep reading their articles?
We rarely stop to think about that, but if you’re a writer, this is a very valuable question to help you get better. If you want to be a remarkable writer, you have to do something no one else is doing. Will that make you incredibly popular? Maybe. Maybe not. That’s the thing with remarkability. It goes both ways. You can also be remarkably bad. Obviously, that’s not what we’re aiming for here.
The writers I’ll share about here are remarkable in their own rights. Some of them are doing well, at least stats-wise, some not so much. But they’re still all remarkable.
Tim Denning
Superpowers: Consistency, Persistence, Humbleness, Authenticity
I don’t think there’s anyone as consistent and as persistent as Tim. He’s been writing online for seven years and I’m not sure he even missed a single day. Even when he had no audience, he didn’t falter. He just kept writing, not trying to game the system, or finding insane strategies to make his writing work. He wrote first, then figured out how to fit his writing with the platforms he contributed to.
Tim is as authentic as it gets. I can’t recall the number of times I’ve read about his personal life. The lessons he shares always come from his own experience. While he’s not unique in that, I remember reading very personal stuff from him and it takes guts to share his story so publicly like that.
He’s also incredibly humble. For one so big on Medium and LinkedIn, you’d expect that would get to his head. You’d be wrong. In a way, I don’t think he realizes how impactful he has been for people.
Jessica Wildfire
Superpowers: Storytelling, Humour, Honesty
Jessica is one of my favourite writers on Medium. She’s funny, honest, and a great storyteller. She’s never afraid to tell things exactly as they are but does it in a way that always makes you grin or straight up laugh. That’s a rare skill.
And she’s able to consistently do that across many different topics. Her being a teacher by profession, I especially enjoy her articles about Education because, let’s be honest, Education can be a farce sometimes. Jessica’s writing is perfect to make light of a dark situation. I’d buy any kind of book from Jessica, really.
Michael Thompson
Superpowers: Friendliness, Versatility, Storyteller, Authenticity
I met Mike about two years ago when we chatted about a group he had started. We were both familiar with each other's writing at the time, but we didn’t know we’d necessarily hit it off. After I first spoke to him, I understood that it was virtually impossible not to hit it off with Mike. He’s one of the most versatile and empathic people I know, making him a great friend in any situation.
Now, that’s my personal story with him, but the reason I mention it is because it’s obvious how friendly he is in his articles. I’m not one bit surprised he became known for relationships advice.
And speaking of versatility, like me, Mike doesn’t at all come from a writing background. He just picked it up. Over the two years I’ve known him, his storytelling skills have started to become of the best you’ll read any day on Medium. And as you’d guess, his stories are deeply authentic and emotionally empowering.
Michael Simmons
Superpowers: Smart. Diligent, Curious, Unrelenting
I’m sad to not be able to read a new article by Michael every week because his articles are, for me, the best ones on Medium. Michael writes very deep and well-researched articles on learning, mental models, and peak performance. He writes based on research he does and experiments with. While that may not sound unique, I assure you no one is as diligent and smart as Michael.
Over the past two years, I got to have a few conversions with Michael and they were some of the most intellectually challenging conversations I’ve had in my life. He makes me reflect deeper and gives me the drive to challenge myself more intellectually.
I also don’t know many people who are as curious as Michael. His ability to question everything in the right way is very obvious in his writing and his business.
Sean Kernan
Superpowers: Unpredictability, Adaptability, Humour, No Filter
When you read an article from Sean, you never know what to expect. One day you read about ad campaigns from the 60s, another about his bad relationships, another about sex advice, another about history, etc. That’s what I love about him. When you think you have him figured out, he surprises you once again with a topic you never knew he’d cover.
That makes him probably the most adaptable writer I know. This is a great way to grow on Medium. He writes about a lot more tags than other writers, therefore he gets to reach a wider audience that pretty much everyone else.
Humour is a tricky thing to add to stories because everyone has different tastes, but Sean gets me cracking frequently. He’s one of the few who’s not afraid to add some fun to stories, no matter if the subject is taboo or not. Much respect.
Conclusion
I’d have so many more to mention because the amount of talent on Medium is very impressive. If you’d like me to do a follow up to this, let me know in the comments below.
Ultimately, the point of this article is to get inspired by these remarkable writers, but not copy them. Find your own combination of superpowers that makes you a strong and capable writer. The writers I mentioned in this article are all very different and that’s what makes them good.
If you go with the majority, you’re only average. Don’t be average.