15 Things I Love about Writing on Medium

Celebrating my three month Medium anniversary with the things I love about this platform.

My first three months on Medium has been somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster.

I’ve had the extreme unexpected highs of having a story go semi-viral and the lows of continually being rejected by publications and not producing “original” enough writing.

It’s pretty hard to be original though when there are 60 million active users, who all have a voice. Which is pretty amazing by the way — I’m just saying, that top publications are asking a lot when they want completely original stories.

Saying that, in terms of earnings, I have consistently earned more as the months go on and it goes a little something like this: $1.32, $212.52, $239.80, not including the 30% tax Medium takes off from international writer’s. Which all in all, is something I’m pretty chuffed about. Three months ago, I had no idea it was even possible to begin earning this kind of money as someone very new to writing.

Moreover, the confidence regularly writing on Medium has given me to share is more valuable than any money I earn. It’s forced me to discipline myself, write something every day and be more susceptible to criticism and suggestions from others. In short, it’s made me a better writer.

Instead of doing a stats overview, which I have done for the past two months, I thought I would do something a little different.

Here are 15 things I love about Medium.

#1 The Community of Writers

There are so many writers on this platform, from all over the world and I love that. When publishing on Medium, regardless of your following, it never feels like you’re writing into a void which it can do on other platforms (such as WordPress.)

I’ve had the most incredible, generous comments from people which has motivated me to write more. The community of people I’ve already built up in the last three months is something I’m very thankful for. I don’t think there’s any other writing or social media platform that compares.

Was that a little gushy? Maybe, but I don’t care.

#2 The Diversity of Content

The beauty of Medium is that you can write on anything — from why Donald Trump is despicable, to why leaves change colour in the Autumn.

Those are probably bad examples, but you get my drift. As a writer, Medium is a type of paradise, there’s simply a space for writing on anything. And as a reader, you will always be able to find something to read.

I can spend hours reading on Medium and often lose track of time. I love how everything is all in one place and Medium recognises your interests, other people’s and promotes them.

#3 The Focus on Quality Writing

Before writing on Medium I felt quite threatened by it as the quality of writing scared me. I didn’t know if my writing was up to scratch or if anyone would bother to read it.

But I took the plunge because I was going through a patch of feeling lost and demotivated with my writing. Funnily enough, even just spending three months on this platform, I know my writing has got better. I used to psyche myself up before sitting down to write and would dread the prospect of trying to get words onto paper in a coherent fashion. Now, they flow a lot better and I attribute this to a regular writing practice, influenced by joining Medium.

Unlike other blog sites, Medium is advertising free for the most part and as a writer, there’s very minimal customisation involved in setting up your page.

In this way, there is a pure and unrestrained focus on writing — which I love.

#4 Medium Does All the Hard Work For you

Although it’s pretty hard to crack, Medium’s algorithm enables your writing, regardless of your following, to be distributed throughout the feeds of its 60 million users. How incredible is that?

I’m all for writer’s promoting their work through social media channels, but when starting, there’s only so much you can do. Although curation is now a thing of the past, distribution and publications do a wonderful job of feeding into this algorithm and showing your work to readers who are interested in the topics you write about.

And as writer’s, we don’t have to do a thing, we can just sit back and let the process happen.

#5 Followers Matter — but Are Not the Key to Your success

Unlike Instagram and Twitter, followers do not determine how many people are exposed to your work.

The Medium algorithm works off good quality writing and sharing things to readers that will interest them. In this way, the number of followers you have does not determine your reach, success or income. However, like everything, it does help. For a beginner writer, therefore, Medium is a brilliant way to start and have your work read by thousands of people, without even having a huge following.

#6 The Sheer Volume of Publications

Big, small or medium-sized, there are just so many publications which means writer’s at all stages of their journey can take a chance and submit to them.

And there’s a publication for everything you can imagine. Importantly, this means you don’t have to have your niche sorted out and fit into one box, as you can write and publish in as many as you desire. And it makes for a great reading experience too.

#8 Medium Makes earning Money Easy and Simple

The Medium Partner program is what draws a lot of writers to the platform. And why not? Medium makes it so easy for writer’s of any ability to start earning money, and you don’t even have to be a paid Medium member to receive this benefit.

Unlike other platforms such as WordPress, that rely on Ad revenue (hence the importance of a following and “clicks”) Medium rewards you for quality writing in the form of reading time — which is how your earnings are calculated.

This can go straight into your Stripe account, and then be paid into your bank account. Although recently I’ve become a bit annoyed with the tax rate (for me it’s 30%) — but regardless, it has still been an easy way for me to begin making money from writing.

#9 The Layout Is Simple, Clean and Minimalist

This feeds into Medium’s natural focus on writing — but the type of interface you have to customize as a writer is so simple which makes the process of setting up a page hassle-free.

You don’t have to fiddle around with menu’s, themes and all the rest, because Medium takes care of all the technical stuff for you. Until recently, you couldn’t add much customization to your page at all. But I love how the layout of all Medium’s articles are clean and free from ad’s, it makes for better reading and writing experience.

#10 The Freedom to Self Publish

Getting into publications is tricky, especially as a new writer. But the crucial thing about Medium, as opposed to other blogging platforms such as WordPress, is that it has a higher rated domain authority, meaning that even if you self publish your stores, they are more likely to rank highly on Google.

This is great if you are a new writer who is trying to find their feet. Remember, getting into publications is super nice, but sometimes distribution and self-publishing can be enough for a story to take-off.

#12 The Community of Writers

Medium is home to so many amazing writers and many who I aspire to and the comments people leave on stories are always so wholesome and encouraging.

When publishing, even as a new writer, I feel supported by the people who take the time to read and comment on my work. It’s something I wasn’t used to until joining this platform and it can help boost your confidence when you’re just starting. Also, it’s a great way in which to meet like-minded people and share writing tips and tricks across the board.

#13 Knowing That Your $5 a Month Is Paying Some Writer’s for the First time

If you’re a Medium member and pay $5 a month to have unlimited access to Medium’s content, every time you read someone’s story, regardless of their following, a portion of this fee is helping to pay them.

This is how wrier’s get rewarded for their work. I read a lot on Medium because I simply love the type of content that’s available, but it’s another bonus altogether to know that by paying this, I might be supporting some new writer’s like myself, for the first time.

#14 It Helps You Build a Platform

There are so many success stories of writer’s who started on Medium, built their following and then got offered book deals and other writing opportunities. The following you build up here, will easily transfer to other writing endeavour’s down the line, which is the beauty of this system.

Medium is recognised universally for its quality of writing and publishing on the platform is a crucial place to start and build your following. To be a writer in this day and age, it’s never been so easier to start and Medium makes that so easy and accessible.

#15 It’s an endless source of inspiration

Being on Medium and having access to countless articles on a range of topics, is enough inspiration for a lifetime.

A fair few of my stories have come off the back of reading something that has inspired or resonated with me. I regularly go over my highlighted passages to try and spark some inspiration to write a story — and it’s usually not too difficult.

As a reader and a writer, therefore, Medium as a platform is endlessly inspiring.

This may have been gushy to read — so I apologise.

But Medium has become my backbone in recent months and has truly allowed me to grow as a writer and figure myself out.

It gives me a sense of hope and endless inspiration for stories to come. It is incredibly hard work and takes some perseverance, but what sets it above the rest, is that it rewards you for these very efforts, and you’re not left somewhere in the void.

I hope everyone had a good writing month, and here’s to the next one!