https://media.giphy.com/media/OSQJkZ5ntaw8M/giphy.gif

Whether the post is meant to be educational, fun or thought-provoking – or more besides – a well-formatted post is easier to read and therefore will grab the attention of your readers – and **KEEP** it!

When I write my stories, they are typed into a document first. I have learned that Steemit posts can sometimes disappear into the ether and while it doesn’t happen often, once is enough to make an impact.

I usually write stories and novels that don’t have pictures, so the discipline of putting pictures in took a while to come to terms with, but I believe I’m there now. Get into the habit of dotting a relevant picture into your writing. Not only does it add a splash of colour and variation, it shows the reader what you mean, too.

https://media.giphy.com/media/PRIIUQBhaPjDq/giphy.gif

It really does not matter if you can’t spell. If you use a word document and figure out at least the most basic settings, the doc will let you know when you’ve misspelled a word – it may even tell you when you’ve put a word in that’s the right word, but the wrong spelling of it.

Make the post short enough to tell the reader about the subject, but with enough detail to make it worth an upvote. Yes, I realise that’s a skill that needs to be learned, but hey, you’re getting paid for this, do the work!

My posts are usually around 800 – 1000 words in length, but I have been known to make both shorter *and* longer posts. 

***ALWAYS*** cite your sources! Whether that’s for the pictures or the source of your information. If you’ve copied **ANYTHING**, you **MUST** tell your readers where you got the info/picture from.

https://media.giphy.com/media/ZS2bQMAi28Xmw/giphy.gif
No... cite your *source*...

Don’t stray off the subject – it’s easily done. Keep to the subject in hand and if you think of something unrelated to the post, and need to write it down, do that – at the bottom of the doc so it reminds you when you’ve finished writing the post. Then write a different post if necessary.

**READ YOUR POST AGAIN!** - Come on, it’s not difficult – and you’ll thank me later. You may catch a typo or a mistake in your information if you read it through even once and it won’t take that much longer.

Learn basic html – *please*! It can make a little more *impact* on your writing, give a little more interest if you write a word or two in *italics* or **BOLD** or ***EVEN BOTH!***

<center>It really *IS* simple</center>


While you’re at it, you could also look at some of the irritating comments that my posts receive – take a look at a few of my other posts, especially the ones with lots of comments – ‘Nice post’, ‘great post’, ‘this story is wonderful’ especially when it’s NOT a story – these are all throw-away comments that mean nothing to the author of the post and can be insulting. This kind of comment could get your account flagged and/or muted. Please don’t do it.

Please don’t steal work and post it onto your blog in the belief that you’ll get away with it – you really won’t and as soon as you’re found out, the flagging starts and it’s difficult to stop that.

https://media.giphy.com/media/3o6Mbfjbo99Wm3pvfW/giphy.gif

One last thing (and I know I say this more than anything else) ***DO NOT BEG FOR UPVOTES OR FOLLOWS!*** 
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Steemit is a wonderful platform and I know more people are actually making a business of it, so don’t abuse it. Be patient, work hard at your posts and eventually your audience will grow. 

Have fun, STEEM ON!
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*All gifs from giphy.com*