Write for The Creative Mind

We’re looking for creativity experts; therapists, scientists, artists, coaches. Learn how you can make a submission

Photo by Fabian Irsara on Unsplash

We’re looking for creativity experts; therapists, scientists, artists, coaches. Learn how you can make a submission

Update 13th March 2020
Until further notice, The Creative Mind is no longer accepting submissions. The publication remains active, and new stories will be published weekly. Thanks to everyone who has chosen The Creative Mind to publish their material to date.

The Creative Mind is the place where readers come to source reliable expert-written articles and essays on creativity, expertise and optimal human performance. If you are a science writer, therapist, professional in human performance coaching or demonstrate creative expertise in your daily work, The Creative Mind wants your knowledge and experience.

The following is a breakdown of what exactly we’re looking for. We truly want to publish your work, so please read these guidelines thoroughly before submitting your material. The higher the quality of your submission, the better served our readers will be and the more exposure your article will receive.

I should mention, you can publish existing content from your personal or professional blog here. Just be sure to paste the article rather than using Medium’s import function (see Part 6, item 3 below).

Before You Proceed: Follow The Creative Mind to receive weekly letters

Read this article on making submissions too

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Contents

1. The Dos and Don’ts

2. Writing Themes

3. Article Types & Ideas

4. Tagging Your Article

5. Formatting Your Article

6. Final Words & Things To Remember

7. Make Your Submission

1. The Dos and Don’ts

What Your Article Should Do

Your article must offer the reader a breakdown of complex material in simple terms, or offer an executable solution to their problem. Offer your personal experience, that of a client (anonymously), or a third party, and show them how to achieve resolution. Explain what science says about your topic and offer references to external sources.

• Add a big full-width image at the top above the title that relates to the content of your article.

• Add alt text and attribution to the image

• Use Medium formatting and please avoid emojis

• Tell a story to make your article relateable.

• Include external reference links to reliable sources

• Educate the reader — show your expertise, but avoid wagging your finger

• Always conclude your article with action steps, takeaway points or your key finding.

• Include a short bio with a link (not an embedded form) to your email list signup (if you use one).

• Share your article on your social media accounts and with your email list

What Your Article Should NOT Do

We want to enlist experts who are dedicated to producing quality content. As such there are certain things that are ruled out. Any of the below “don’ts” present in your article will mean it won’t be published.

• Don’t use headlines that don’t deliver. In other words; deliver content that your headlines promise.

• Don’t be rigid and stuffy. Show some personality

• Don’t use expletives or attacking language

• Don’t include affiliate links

• Don’t make broad sweeping statements or unsupported opinions

• Don’t add links to donation accounts such as Patreon. Medium doesn’t like this.

• Don’t blatantly sell your products or services

• Don’t ask for applause. Medium doesn’t like this either.

• Don’t use emojis.

2. Writing Themes

Articles can be We’re looking for articles that fit within the four broad themes;

Art

We’re looking for articles that break down the creative process. Consider the following subject matter ideas;

1. What are the creative challenges artists and writers encounter and how can they be resolved.

2. Creativity at the interface of art and science

3. Art in training and education

4. Daily creative practice

5. Writing, Performance, Art

Psychology

We’re looking for articles on the psychology of creativity. This is a very broad area so there should be plenty for you to cover. Subjects you may cover include;

• Creativity

• Memory & Perception

• Expertise & Performance

• Genius

• Intelligence

• Stress, Anxiety, Depression & Mental Health

Philosophy

Out of philosophy came the scientific method and so delving into the philosophy of art, science and creativity we can explore the roots of modern creative exploration. Subjects may include;

• Greek philosophy of Aristotle, Plato and Seneca

• The European Enlightenment

• Contemporary philosophical assessment of creativity

• The mind-body problem

• The Self & Reality

Science

The empirical study of creativity overlaps with psychology and brings in modern technologies used in neuroscience and the biosciences. Artificial Intelligence is an emerging area on which we would like to publish new content.

• Neuroscience

• Drugs and The Brain

• Artificial Intelligence

• Science of Physical Exercise

• Health

Society

Write and submit an article discussing the impact of art on society and culture or vice versa. Discuss the creative imperative to challenge authority and inform policy. Talk about art and creativity in an education setting.

• Education

• Politics

• Local & national community

• Art & daily work

3. Article Types & Ideas

We want articles that recognise readers’ problems and offer creative solutions. We also want your opinion, personal experience and analysis and breakdown of complex topics. Here are types of articles we’re looking for;

• Essays — a narrative, an argumentative or comparative piece on a given subject. (Explanation).

• Research review — A breakdown of current research finding in layperson terms

• Topic overview — analysis of what is currently known about a given topic or field

• How-to — These articles are explainers, a deep dive into a subject and step by step process how to achieve a given result.

• Case study — Essay that takes a specific look at a given case that you were personally involved in or from history

• Book review — You read a book by an expert on creativity, here you explain the core subject matter and your view of the book.

These are some ideas for article titles that would work well for readers.

How Poor Sleep Affects Your Performance

7 Science-Backed Solutions To Creative Block

Jung on The Nature of The Creative Personality

Solitude: The Secret To Creative Success

How To Use Mindfulness To Boost Creativity

Hemmingway on The Creative Process

The Neuroscience of Creative Expertise

What Is Focus And How To Achieve It

How Your Emotional State Affects Your Creative Output

Freud on The Origins of Creativity

Article Length

Although there is no strict article length, anything under 750 words will rarely hit the mark on detail. That’s not to say a short article will not be accepted, however, the value we want to offer is usually achieved in longer, more detailed pieces. There’s no max length.

Rule of thumb; 750 to 3000 words

4. Tagging Your Article

Tagging your article correctly is vital in order that it is archived correctly and that people will find it. Use the following tags as a priority in every story you write.

• Creativity (this is a must-add tag)

• Psychology, Philosophy, Art, Science, Society

Once you’ve added one of the above tags, use additional tags to further distribute your article in another interest area.

• Neuroscience, Writing, Performance, Physics, Research, Psychotherapy, Memory, Perception, Books, Music, Poetry, Technology, Fitness, Health, Mental Health, AI, Mindfulness, The Brain, Environment, Coaching and so on.

Use any of the tags that Medium offers you, but avoid creating new tags or using a tag with a low article count. Read this essential article from Michael K. Spencer on Tags and Topics.

Some tags are popular, others are not. Choose tags that are popular

5. Formatting Your Article

Correct formatting is important if you want to be successfully published. That means using the formatting tools how they were intended. (Read and follow Medium’s formatting guide) For example;

• Always use a title and subtitle for your article.

• Only use the quote function where you are quoting a relevant piece of text from a reliable source. Don’t quote yourself unless it’s from your book or other published material. Don’t use the quote function for headings.

• Use the bold function to highlight a piece of text in a paragraph. Don’t use the bold function for headings

• Titles should be written in title case. Subtitles should be written in sentence case. Don’t capitalise your entire heading or subheading.

• Don’t use links in titles or subtitles.

• If importing a story, ensure formatting etc. is accurate before submitting.

Use the Medium formatting tools allow you to break up your content into readable and digestible sections. This is important so that readers don’t switch off.

How-tos, instructionals and problem-solving pieces will need more formatting that essay and reports on research, however, the latter should still use sub-heads, quotes to break things up.

Here’s an article that will help you better format your article.

6. Final Word & Things To Remember

1. Always frame your article from the perspective of creativity.

2. The Creative Mind may correct your article for spelling and grammar, however, if very poorly written it’s likely your article will be rejected. Heading, Sub-heads and formatting may also be altered in an effort to produce the best possible article for readers.

3. Feedback will be offered in private notes on your piece if it doesn’t meet the above criteria. Once you follow these guidelines there won’t be too much editing for you to do.

4. It can take 2 or 3 days for your article to be scheduled for publishing, but it’s more likely to be 24 hours.

5. Only submit unpublished drafts. Drafts previously published on Medium will achieve limited exposure because articles are archived in date order. That means if your article was written yesterday or last month, it will go to the bottom of the pile and won’t hit the latest articles.

6. Articles that are added to the Partner Program will be prioritised. Read more about the partner program and see how Medium works with writers. If you’re not in the partner program your article should still be published.

7. If you are not already part of it, join the Medium Partner Program

8. We’re looking to form solid partnerships with practitioners, experts, and researchers that know their stuff so please don’t delete or remove your article from The Creative Mind, because well, we’ll be sad. However, it’s your article so you’re entitled to remove it if you wish.

9. If your article is a how-to, it should provide advice that you have applied or assisted others to apply. Remember, show your personal expertise, and provide clear instructions that readers can follow. Essays don’t need to follow this rule, but please do use sub-heads and perhaps quotes to break up the content.

7. Make Your Submission

To make your submission, add a comment below “make me a writer” and I’ll add you manually.

Sin é

I’m looking forward to receiving your submission. If you have any questions, you can send me a private message on any of the elements in this article by highlighting the text and responding privately.

That’s all I’ve got.