2022 in Review
5 Stories I Wish I Hadn’t Read in 2022
Sorry — NOT SORRY
There are fabulous writers on Medium, but not only. There are fabulous stories on Medium, but others are pure crap.
Usually, I refrain from commenting and putting the spotlight on articles I don’t enjoy. It’s not a nice thing to do, and it’s just better to move on.
But the six stories below are so BAD, SO SO SO BAD, that I had to share.
Sorry — not sorry.
They’re in no particular order, except for the last one — it’s the worst. (It’s not surprising since Kristen Stark wrote it).
One last thing. As I wanted to be fair and give the writers the opportunity for a rebuttal, I tagged them.
#1 — P. L. Goaway
I plead guilty; I should have read the title more carefully. The username was also an indication.
I need to pay more attention to the details.
#2 — May More 💜
I usually love May’s stories — they’re subtle, sophisticated, and tasteful. The following is not.
Look at the title. It’s attention-grabbing and condescending to the readers. As if we didn’t know what bigamist means?!
And the rest of the story’s the same. What a shame.
#3 — Paul Mansfield
Paul is — sort of — always complaining, and that’s — sort of — what I like about him. He’s grumpy. He’s also a master of transgressive fiction (and editor-in-chief of Redemption — the home for transgressive fiction on Medium).
But this story was a miss. The second part might be half decent, but the first will prevent you from getting there.
#4 — Kristine Laco
Yet another attempt to transform a boring life story into a barely readable chapter of her never to be published memoir, this “story” would be better tagged with “I suffered writing this, and so should you.”
#5 Bob Merckel
This story is just GROSS.
The main character, a lovely person, is forced by the author to pee peas from his pee-pee.
I mean, can you imagine?
I still have nightmares after reading this (don’t read it).
#6 Reuben Salsa
Speaking of gross.
If you added confusion and convoluted to the recipe, you would get Reuben’s story.
I’m afraid to ask for confirmation, but it reads like the “author” accidentally merged three different drafts and didn’t care to correct his mistake before hitting publish.
The Scientist and the Flea — An Hungarian Joke
Doctor Jacques Visikov often worked alone.
medium.com
#7 Kristen Stark
To Kristen’s credit, she’s self-aware. In her short bio, she tells us she’s a “silly sausage,” and “pure trash.”
Right.
The same goes with her article, “let’s take the greatest songs of all time and make them terrible.” The title says it all.
She delivered on the promise.
- Terrible jokes.
- Terrible garmmar and snytax.
- Terrible writing.
Well done, Kristen.
TOO well done.
What about you? Which Medium article was the worst you read this year?
(You can’t answer “this one,” it would be cheating.)
Smillew is a Medium artist who writes backstories to extend the reading time of his articles and enjoys piggybacking on other writers to promote his brand. Find him selling referral links to Medium on a street corner near you!
