150 Stories in 150 Days
My medium journey and lessons learned
I joined Medium in September and this is my one hundred and fiftieth story. I’ve learned so much about myself in the process. I want to share my experience and help you with your journey.
I want to share with you my experience. I will break it into four categories: Writing, Lessons learned, Goals, and Earnings
Writing
I wrote about everything. This is important for new writers. Like a sculptor making the initial chips in the stone block. We need to chip away at who we are as writers before we can refine our skills. Here are a few quick tips on what you can write about.
Past experiences
These are unique to you and the only original content you can contribute.
Skills you’ve learned
There’s always someone a few steps behind you. Help them move forward.
Personal developments
If you are like me you’ve made enough mistakes for a few lifetimes. Tell us about them so we can avoid them.
Places you’ve experienced
The world is an amazing place, tell us about the places you’ve visited.
Things you learned the hard way
Some mistakes are only learned the hard way. Smart people learn hard mistakes by reading other people’s experiences. Help someone avoid the same mistakes.
Things you learned the easy way
Sometimes we have massive blind spots in our knowledge. Something that you know instinctively I may struggle to understand. Help me make sense of it all.
Daydreams (Medium needs more fiction)
Medium is an excellent place to share your stories. Fiction writers are true alchemist. They create from nothing.
Tips you’ve gained about writing
Everyone is at a different level on their writing journey. For some it is easy, for others it is hard. Help relay the tips and tricks you’ve learned about writing. Help others improve their abilities.
Bonus tip- Keep a list
Keep a list of all the ideas when they pop into your head. Do not assume you will remember them. You will not. Life gets busy. Use a cloud program like Google Docs and make a list. When something pops in your head. Write it down. Then revisit the list from time to time and see if you feel the urge to expand on the idea.
Lessons learned
This is the most important part of the 150 days. The money will come and go, the skills developed as a writer will stick with you for a lifetime. I recommend adopting this perspective.
Do not concern yourself in how you are going to write the next $100 dollar story to pay your utility bill.
Focus on the skills you’re developing. They will pay dividends for the rest of your life. Here are a few skills I developed in my 150 days on medium.
Shape a narrative
I’ve experimented with different narrative styles. When I started I struggled with third person narrative writing. It is the area I am focused on at the moment. Remember, story’s about earning on Medium do great but they do not have lasting power. In April your January earnings report is useless. I am not saying do not write these, I am saying practice writing timeless stories.
Simple language
Highfalutin words are useless. They make you seem like a prick. I am not saying avoid all big words. I am saying do not use a five dollar word when a one dollar word will do.
Speak directly
Get to the point, if your intro drags out a personal story and it’s not fun or entertaining you will lose your readers. Catch them with the first few sentence.
Give them the information they want, and give them a reason to read the rest of your article.
Improve grammar
Hemmingway is a great helper. It’s more than a proofreader. It is a teacher. Each rough draft I submit has a higher score than the last. Each time there are less and less edits to make. Without trying to make me better it has. I recommend using it.
Hopes for the future
I still gaze in wonder at the profiles blasting into the stratosphere. My journey is different. I am cruising along with a nice growth curve month over month.
I struggle with the occasional pang of jealousy. It’s caused by people making full time income on Medium. I will get there. In the meantime I will not quit my day job.
Goals
Write everyday
This is the most important advice I can give. Even if what you write is crap. You can review it later and see why its crap.
Be willing to criticize your work and you will continue to improve.
Find Topic Balance
I am a story teller. I want to tell you fiction and non-fiction stories. I enjoy writing about other things though.
I enjoy the game of Medium, writing, personal development, health, fitness travel and last but not least, my professional skills as a chef. I say all of this while aware of the old Chinese proverb,
“those who chase two rabbits catch neither.”
I am in search of a balance between exploring topics and consistency.
Become a Ghost
I am curious about ghost writing. It is a subject I know nothing about it.
“Solve rich peoples problems, they pay better,”
Solid advice I will put into practice.
Technical
I never paid attention in grammar class. My main rule for years was write simple statements avoiding complexity.
Keeping it simple because I am stupid.
I want to broaden my understanding of the technical aspects of writing.
Novel research
I plan to read more. A library goes into every book. Writers are readers first. I read all the time but I am always redirecting my eyes and ears to different forms of writing.
I plan to refocus on classic literature and quality science fiction. Strengthening my understanding of what it takes to write a book.
Write a Novel
This is an overarching goal of mine since I was a young. I’ve written a books volume of words here on Medium. I’ve learned the best way to do that is to take small bites.
There is only one way to eat an elephant.
I will redirect some of my daily writing towards a novel.
Earnings
We all can’t get enough of this. If Medium created a scoreboard with earnings we would never look away.
We can’t help but compare our earnings with our neighbors.
To ease your mind, I am going to share with you my modest to low earnings.
Each month I see an increase in my earnings.
The jump from November to December was the most noticeable. It coincided with my joining the Friends of Medium program.
For December, my goal was $50 and I made $212.
I thought it was a fluke from the success of one story. So this month I set my sights on $150 which was around what I would have made without the viral story.
It wasn’t a fluke, I repeated the $200 this month. I made $250 this month.
I am overwhelmed with the support I receive. I can not believe you all read my work enough for Medium to justify paying me over $15.
Let alone $250. I am humbled and honored and hope to continue to show my deep appreciation for you who take the time to read my stories.
150 and beyond
As I step out into the Medium-o-sphere after slinging word salads for 150 plus days
I am amazed by how great you all are.
You have made me a better reader, writer and person. I’ve grown as an individual in many ways and I owe that growth to this community. I hope this is a helpful for you in some way to look into my experience on Medium.