I’m glad you enjoyed the joke, Alex. I like to joke when I talk to people and I like to write how I talk (which is why I don’t use writing software like Grammarly, I feel it takes my natural tone away).

The citations thing I go in and out of using. A writer I admire (Benya Clark) recommends not to use them because they don’t work as well on phones (where the majority of people read on Medium… I think) but I still use them from time to time.

You get them by playing around with the quotation marks in the little menu that pops up when you highlight a word. Each time you click that icon it changes the way that text displays. Have a play around.

If you want to learn the basics of formatting and everything else on Medium I really recommend articles by Maryam.

Good luck with your writing.