3 Reasons to Complete a Writing Challenge on Medium
Tips to help you achieve your writing goals
Want to do something completely crazy and make money at the same time?
I did that, and boy has it paid off!
In March I took part in a 30-day writing challenge set by David Majister. The plan was to write 30 different articles and submit them to 30 different publications over 30 days. It was intense to say the least, especially when you add on family and work commitments and, well, sleep!
However, it was fun and I achieved my many goals, so my experience was definitely worth it. Furthermore, all my stories continued to earn me money in April so I had my best month yet, despite only writing 6 stories.
And now David has made a publication dedicated to the 30-day challenge.
Here are the 3 reasons to complete a writing challenge:
You write for publications you hadn’t previously considered
Obviously, when you complete a challenge like this, you need to become a writer for at least 30 different publications.
Before the challenge, I was only a writer for a few publications. Although I follow more than 30 pubs, I never considered writing for many of them because I assumed I wouldn’t have an article idea. I only wrote about parenting, entrepreneurship and mental health.
Doing the 30-day writing challenge, I needed to become open-minded, do some research and find article ideas to suit different niches. Stretching my imagination has helped me to become a better writer.
I recommend you really research and find a wide variety of publications so you can continue to improve as a writer.
It increases your earnings for months after the challenge
As I mentioned in my introduction, despite my taking part in the challenge in March, I had my best earnings month in April. This is because all of the stories I wrote are continuing to accumulate views. Writing on Medium is a source of scaleable income (and not passive income like some people lead you to believe).
Also, some articles that I thought were a flop, actually built up steam later.
For example, I published 12 Simple Micro-Habits that are Helping Me Lose Weight on 8th March. It got a few views, and then they just stopped and I thought the article was over. Little did I know that 6 weeks later, this article would pick up views again.
As you can see above, the article improved so much, it is now earning me about $2–3 daily. It only earned me $3 for the first 6 weeks. This is just one of the articles that have picked up steam weeks after publishing.
This is because articles that are curated can randomly start to be recommended again and the more people read your articles, the more they are recommended.
Focus on curation when you complete a writing challenge.
You learn how to write concisely
When you complete a writing challenge, you really don’t have time to have fluff in your articles.
I was working m businesses and parenting my children while still trying to complete a 30-day challenge.
Before the challenge, I would write articles that contained a lot of extra unnecessary information, then edit it later until it became a polished piece.
I had no time for that during my challenge.
Instead, I was forced to edit on the spot and really consider each word as I wrote them. I stopped including all of the unnecessary fluff.
Articles that get straight to the point tend to do better. Challenging yourself to write daily will force you to consider your writing.
Taking part in the 30-day writing challenge was the best thing I personally did as a new writer. It has really improved my quality of writing, and it helped open new doors for me as I entered new publications.
I enjoyed it so much, that I am completing a new, albeit less stressful, 20 articles of 30 days challenge this month. I can’t wait to see the results of my new challenge.
How about you? Will you design your own Medium challenge?
