Starting Medium: Advice for your first year as a writer
6 Ways in which writing instantly improves your life…
My first year on Medium is coming to a close and I recently made my first 0.06 cents on Medium. You might think: What the heck, that is nothing, I can do better than that! But hear me out…
If you are thinking about writing on Medium you will have come across them: The article of a self-established Medium god who makes a horrendous sum with writing articles. These pieces in general follow a similar pattern. Either they are some sort of a list of “Do’s” or “Don’ts” or (in the most transparent cases) a review of their earnings over the past months.
Of course, such articles are inspiring and attract a lot of readership. These people turn into Medium gurus who teach others how to monetize this platform “correctly”. You’d better believe that I have read my fair share of such articles and found myself both encouraged and disappointed by them. First of all, they all come up with the same points of advice:
- Write a lot
- Write regularly
- Write about stuff people want to read (which is not necessarily what you want to write)
- Interact with others (build “returning customers”)
- Write in a publication
- Don’t follow more people than are following you
And I hope that if you were looking for these points to be listed in this article you have now been satisfied. But to be honest, I have come to dislike these pieces of advice. They do something to this platform, that I find fundamentally contradicts that it was made for creative people with a passion for writing and personal stories to share. There is so much more, that never gets talked about.
This is why in this article I want to write from the perspective of someone who “has not made it”. Someone who writes because she likes to. This also means that I do not write a lot and especially I don’t write regularly. I write whenever I want to and feel inspired and if I don’t feel that for a month straight, that is ok.
I write exclusively about things that are happening in my life, my personal reflections, or my learnings. As a matter of fact I even write poetry, which famously is much less favored than finance or self-help articles. I have just recently joined my first publication and I interact with people whenever I feel like it and not because I need to.
I have been on this platform for over nine months now. As of right now, I have 31 followers and I am immensely grateful for each one of them. If I get three views or reads in a day, that deserves a pat on the shoulder. Of course, I would like for millions to clap for my stories and send me comments that I can reply to. Of course, I would like to make so much money with writing, that I can live off that alone. You can trust me when I say that I have been battling with my choice for a long time and kept questioning whether I should switch my technique to make writing pay me.
But there are parts of the experience on Medium that I find make writing here much more “worth it” than making quick money. Which you won’t anyway if you haven’t realized by now. In the following paragraphs, I want to list some more uncommon reasons, why writing on Medium is good for you. And I would argue these are better than making money right away…
1. Verbal Quality and Social Impacts
The first thing I have gained through Medium is an opportunity to challenge and reflect on my own thoughts on and off the platform. I have noticed over the months, that when I talk to friends, I take note of their unreflected statements. I will catch myself saying “most cases” more often than “all the time” and I think that my verbal expression, in general, has greatly improved through writing. This process of reconsidering my wording in writing and also while speaking now has paid off in many ways. I find that I have an easier time holding speeches and people around me started making positive comments. Also, my arguments have become more solid and therefore many people now ask me for advice or guidance.
2. Introspection and Reflection
Furthermore, if something happened in my life that I have a hard time processing, I will oftentimes write about it. After writing it out, I am usually washed over by a grand wave of relief. In very bad scenarios I even find that I make use of this in order to have an easier time falling asleep. When I edit the article the next day it is genuinely interesting and highly provoking to read your own thoughts and bring them in order. By finding the coherence in an otherwise tangled ball of thoughts and thinking about how to present it to a reader, you will eventually make sense of yourself.
3. Bravery and Companionship
I remember when starting on Medium, I didn’t even want to write about my crush or mention that I was a student. I felt people might judge me based on these determinants or even track me down online. Over time I learned to use this platform as a source of learning about myself and started sharing more and more personal topics. The beauty of it is, that I will often write something out first and then let it sit in my drafts for a while if I find it to be too touchy. By editing it, I will fall into a circle of reflection and learn from my own life. This usually ends up being so enlightening, that I feel the need to share it with someone else especially if I have recently found that no one else has written about it before. I feel brave for sharing my story and also use my courageous actions to generate a sense of purpose.
4. Honest Interest and Research
Since I have quite some ADHD-like tendencies, I am quick to pick up new passions and while I spend a little time with them, they are not always thoroughly researched. Now, however, I find myself wanting to write about these topics. This means that my knowledge has to be comprised and solidified into the form of a coherent article, ideally with links or books to refer to. In order to do so, I find myself digging further into these topics of interest while generating genuine new learnings that I can even refer back to, as they are saved in the form of a post on Medium.
5. Healthy Dopamine Waves
I am guessing from what I have read from Medium gurus, that making a lot of money from a story or getting boosted gives you an enormous dopamine rush. But rest assured that this is not the only way to get that and to be honest I feel like I might be (hormone-quantity-wise) happier than them, because every single time I get inspired to write an article, my dopamine starts kicking in. It steadily increases until I finish an article and I genuinely can’t wait to sit and edit it the next day. Finally, clicking the “publish” button is like the peak of a rollercoaster and I am not only intoxicated by joy but also feel a tremendous pride because my writing is always the best I can do, whenever and wherever I want to. This leaves me with more dopamine after than before the initial inspiration, which is the reason I feel happier with every piece that I publish.
6. The Best Diary Ever
Though I initially stayed away from writing about my personal life, I have found that I enjoy these posts, especially when I am on trips. As a female solo traveler currently studying abroad in Taiwan, I have a lot of stories to tell and too little time to record everything in a diary. The great thing about Medium is, that I can pick the most influential part of the day, the one I find readers would most benefit from, and describe what I learned in detail. I also like to add my own photos and sometimes music I listened to wherever I was. This way, that moment comes alive in a whole different way. Instead of having a dusty journal you barely read, I frequently find myself flipping through my stories and reading about what I learned that day with a smile on my face. Oftentimes this reminder also helps to keep practicing new learnings more consistently in your life.
These were my six reasons why I find writing on Medium is worth it and why I am going to keep it up. I hope that if you are an aspiring writer, you will find these tips helpful and consider giving some of them a go. If you want to see how I practice these ideas I proposed in my writing, here is one travel blog, one poem, and my most recent article for your reference.
Travel blog:
Poem:
Recent article:
I hope you will enjoy writing here as much as I do and if you struggle with daring to post something, feel free to share a link to your “bravest article” in the comments and I will be sure to hop over and encourage you. Because after all, we are all in the same boat, cheering each other on :)
