How to write a great dry eye story

Need some inspiration for writing your dry eye story? Here are the types of stories we’re looking for and the content that we think will help readers connect with your story.

Focus on telling your personal story.

Everyone’s journey is different, so make sure you’re not writing something too generic. Important information might include:

A unique title that describes your situation
How long you’ve had dry eye
How many doctors you’ve seen
Your worst symptoms or your diagnoses
Thoughts and opinions in your own words—we’ve gotten so many good quotes from the stories submitted so far

Think about the highs and lows of your dry eye story. Did it get better? What got in the way? What would you tell yourself if you could go back in time? What do you wish you had known? What would’ve helped in a time of need? Who were your best allies and what were your toughest challenges?

Tell us what worked for you.

It’s probably most intuitive to write how “such and such a treatment didn’t work” when you really mean that that specific treatment didn’t work for you and your specific needs. Treatments are obviously central to our dry eye stories, but avoid telling people how they should treat their dry eyes.

We’re especially wary of people who claim their “dry eyes were cured” with very little explanation of their circumstances, trial and error process, or communication with doctors! Sharing your discoveries is helpful, as long as it’s explained as part of a process. Readers are much more likely to understand why your routine works if you can explain how your treatment, management, mental health, personal/professional relationships have evolved, rather than just claiming that you found a cure.

Include photos.

We’ve found that readers connect better when there’s a face attached. See a great example here. If you don’t want to include personal photos, that’s okay too!

things we won’t publish

Lastly, please don’t use our platform to promote doctors, products or services. If we feel your post is more promotional in nature, we may ask you to rewrite your story using some of the best-practices above.