The Case for Writing Shorter Articles in 2026

I went through my last 100 or so Medium stories and looked at read ratios, engagement, all of it.

Articles under 1,000 words had higher read ratios on average. The longer ones performed better in total views when they hit.

But they hit less often. And when they didn't hit, they really didn't hit.

The sweet spot seems to be 800 to 1,200 words. Long enough to say something good. Short enough that people actually finish it.

Most of us pad without realizing it. A third example when two made the point. A paragraph explaining why something matters when the reader already knows, because they clicked on the article. Cutting is harder than writing long.

But it's almost always worth it.