30 Posts in 30 Days in 30 Publications!
My aim was to gain 500 followers and establish better writing habits!
Inspired by David Majister I made a pledge in May 2021 to take part in the Medium 30-Day Writing Challenge. During this challenge, I planned to write 30 posts in 30 days and submit to 30 different publications!
My personal aim:
- Grow my followers — my goal was to reach 500 followers within 30 days. At the time of writing this post I had 324.
- Network and connect with other writers — I wanted to learn from some of the best writers on Medium and be part of an engaging and supportive community.
- Increase consistency of my writing — To improve my writing skill and form better, more consistent writing habits.
…and the way I saw it if I earned a little money along the way that would be a most welcome bonus too!
So, what were my results at the end of the 30 day period? You can check out how I got on here!
Pre-Challenge
Be it a success or an utter failure, whatever happens, it will be a great learning opportunity and I look forward to connecting with some wonderful new writers and readers during the journey!
If you are interested in taking part (and want to read the Challenge rules)👇:
I’ll be banking some articles ahead of time. Instead of thinking of it as a 30-day challenge, I will break it down into manageable 15-day chunks!
The 3 main benefits to this challenge…
1. Discovering and connecting with other writers
I am really looking forward to reaching and connecting with a wider audience. I always check out the writers who respond to my stories and have discovered some great and really inspiring content as a result. To be honest it is how I discovered this awesome challenge!
2. Getting out of my comfort zone
I need to push myself out of the comfort zone by writing for publications I wouldn’t have necessarily considered. By approaching a plethora of publications I plan to go beyond the topics I would normally write about. For example trying new writing structures such as poetry for POM, a ranting post for The Venting Machine and some micro-fiction in Centina Pentina.
3. Improving my writing skills
I want to improve my writing skills whilst building some consistency and better writing routines/habits. It will be great to get some feedback from the community as I am new to the Medium platform.
Some pre-challenge advice
I received some excellent advice on the challenge by Alana Rister, Ph.D.
“My first suggestion is to plan. Take time before starting to come up with some publications and titles for them. I was doing this daily because I didn’t take the time to plan at all.
The second advice is to have fun with it! I think the biggest thing about this challenge is not every article is going to be your best. But it is good to try different types of articles and styles”.
The 30-days are up! AND the results are now in. How did I do?
- Followers — Did I manage to reach my 500+ follower mark?
- Views— How many people viewed my posts in May and compare this to my initial views in April?
- Share any lessons learned along the way — Giving you a head start if you decide to tackle this challenge!
The 30 Day Writing Challenge: The Results Page
A list of all the articles successfully published during this challenge can be found at the end of this article 👇. If you’d like to take the challenge, then feel free to bookmark this post so you can return to it at any time and check out the publications I submitted to for ideas.
Why I’m doing this Challenge?
I don’t just write for self-expression, I write because as someone with mild dyslexia writing does not come naturally to me, but still I enjoy writing and I am a published author and ghost-writer! I know dyslexia is only a disability if you allow it to be. I also write for my readers. I like to write thought-provoking posts that get people discussing and engaging as a community and I love hearing from fellow readers and other writers.
The Publication List
Not only am I writing 30 articles in 30 days to submit to 30 publications. I’m also pushing myself out of my comfort zone by writing in styles, formats and topics that are all new to me! Posts are in order of the date they were originally submitted to a publication.
Day 1 —Emergence | The POM
A poem in the POM.
Day 2 - A Haiku Poem | The Daily Cuppa
My first Haiku Poem!
Day 3–10 Ways I’m Reducing My Carbon Footprint | Environmental Ideas (Curated)
After discovering I had a huge footprint here are the steps I am taking to reduce the amount of carbon we use as a family (and you can to)!
Day 4–5 Lessons Learned From My First 30 Days on Medium | Feedium
A reflection on my first 30 days writing on the Medium platform.
Day 5–7 Ways Dehydration is Slowing You Down | Age of Awareness (Curated)
Back into my comfort zone for this wellbeing and health related post. It was also my very first article to be curated. Age of Awareness is one of my favourite publications so this submission was a real honour.
Day 6 — Let’s Talk Biscuits. When is a biscuit not a biscuit? | Writers’ Blokke
What’s your favourite biscuit — just don’t say JAFFA CAKE!
Day 7 — The Uncovering of the Muse | Sky Collection
Part of the #MayWritingExperience collection.
Day 8 — Stop Focusing on Follower Count and Start Building a Meaningful Community | ILLUMINATION (Curated)
A post about seeing the real people behind the follower count and building engaging communities. Ironically this post was written pre-bonus pay-outs to the writers who created engaging content (I wasn’t one as I have only just joined this platform). Glad to know I am on the right page when it comes to interaction!
Day 9 — Rejected
My first rejection whoop, whoop! Eight out of nine posts published so I knew a rejection was due. Rejection has helped me to appreciate what I’ve had published and curated so far, but also has given me the drive to do better.
Day 10 — What Happened When I Planked For 100 Days Straight | In Fitness And In Health
What happened when I planked for 100 days straight?
Day 11 — A Precious Gift | Centina Pentina
A one sentence story with the theme of 19!
Day 12-The Secret Leftie. PLUS 5 facts you may or may not know… | | The Secret Society
A simply icebreaker led to a discovery that wasn’t right!
Day 13-Rejected
Day 14- How to Manage Unhelpful Thoughts When Learning Something New | New Era (Curated)
Back to my comfort zone with this little self-help guide to managing unhelpful thinking habits when learning something new.
Day 15-The half-way mark: The Misrepresentation of the Mudlarker | by Trisha Dunbar | Microcosm
My very first historical flash-fictional piece.
Day 16- It’s Time to Stop Talking About Inclusion for Neuro-Diverse Students and Start Taking Action | The Venting Machine
Day 17- Submitted
Day 18–5 Ways to Help You Discover your Authentic Voice | by Trisha Dunbar | SYNERGY (Curated)
Day 19–10 Simple Ways to Immediately Improve Your Listening Skills for Language Learning | (Curated)
Soft skills are often neglected when learning languages, but truth is our listening skills are just important than being able to speak the language.
Day 20- 10 Simple Ways to Build Better Habits | Thoughts And Ideas (Curated)
Tackling the 21-day to form a habit myth!
Day 21-Daydream Your Way to Success. A practical day dreaming exercise| Passive Asset (Curated)
The power of visualisation techniques!
Day 22-Submitted
Day 23-Rejected
Day 24–10 Ways to Manage Unhelpful Thoughts When Writing | by Trisha Dunbar | May, 2021 | The Writing Cooperative (Curated)
Day 25- Submitted
Day 26- The Importance of Rational Compassionate Leadership | by Trisha Dunbar | ILLUMINATION’S MIRROR (Curated)
Day 27–10 Ways to Overcome a Fear of Learning a Foreign Language | by Trisha Dunbar | RESONATES (Curated)
Day 28-Submitted
Day 29-Submitted
Day 30 -End game: How I Doubled My Following and Increased Earnings by 250% in 30 Days | by Trisha Dunbar | 30-Day Challenge
👉 Check out my Lists to discover my stories, other publications and awesome writers 🖤