A Month Into Medium

Followers, earnings, and how I’ve changed as a writer over the last 30 days

I started to write a story on Medium four times over the last three years. But, each time I only got through the title and the first line before I quit. I abandoned every story and any hopes of publishing as a Medium writer until the itch to write resurfaced months later.

I thought my personal writing wasn’t good enough. Or, I didn’t have anything interesting to write about. Or, I didn’t have enough time to refine it to my standards. I had a million excuses. Until the 10th of September, 2021, when I realized it was never going to get easier. I gave myself an hour, drafted an article, and the next day I pressed “publish.”

Since then, I’ve published 18 stories (this one makes 19), meeting my goal of five articles a week. And I’ve grown from 0 followers to 136, crossing the mystical line of 100 followers to become a member of the partner program. And I’ve earned a whopping 83 cents in the process.

Reflecting on the past month, here are my takeaways from starting the long journey of writing for yourself.

The first step is always the hardest

I was scared of pushing ‘publish’ on that first article. Terrified. What if no one read it? What if people read it and thought it was awful? How would that define me as a person, or a writer?

But, I became a new mom four months ago. And having a daughter changed me. If I’ve learned anything about having a newborn in your life, it’s that you have to seize the time you have with abandon. I can’t second-guess my writing because I don’t have time to. Over the last month, I’ve learned to draft, edit, publish, and then let it go.

OK, the next steps are hard too

Writing consistently and growing followership on Medium is not for the faint of heart. It’s a massive time commitment. You have to be prepared to dig in for much longer than just the first month. And while I knew that objectively before starting, once I actually started doing it, I felt the weight of how much effort it will take. I will have to rearrange my life to balance Medium, my four-month-old daughter, and my career.

Jessica A once used an analogy about competitions that I find fitting for writing on Medium as well:

It’s “…like getting on a bus and taking your seat only to discover you’re the first stop of a hundred.”

There are hundreds of thousands of Medium writers that publish thousands of articles a day. Even though I’ve now joined those ranks, it doesn’t make the competition for readers less daunting. The last month has shown me that while I made the first leap, it will always be an uphill battle. Medium writing is a marathon, not a sprint.

How I’ve changed as a writer

Medium changed the rules to join the partner program the same month I finally got up the gumption to start writing. Instead of earning immediately, now all writers have to have at least 100 followers and one published story before they can start earning. It seemed like unfortunate timing.

But, it was exactly the motivation I needed.

Reaching for 100 followers gave me a goal and a reason to be consistent. I hoped I would reach it within a month. In reality, it took me three weeks.

The goal not only made me focus my efforts, but it made me quit making excuses. I have an hour to write an article, and then I have to edit and publish it. If not, I won’t be able to publish consistently and I won’t grow my readership. The draft, edit, publish cycle removed the fear of publishing and made me focus on the process.

It’s the first time I’ve written every day for a month, and I‘m amazed by the energy and focus it has given me. It takes time and effort, but I’ve never felt so creative as I have in the past month. I have Medium and the other writers on this platform to thank for that.

Takeaways

Writing consistently on Medium is a challenge, and it will continue to be. There are no easy solutions to building a following. It takes time, dedication, and resolve to put yourself out there.

But, meeting those challenges head-on strengthens my writing ability and, more importantly, builds my confidence as a writer. I no longer worry about pressing ‘publish.’ I don’t spend all my time working and reworking sentences. I write every day.

While my new goal is to get beyond $1 in earnings, I’m looking forward to the process.

I’ve been on the edge of my dream of being a writer for too long. And I didn’t come this far to only come this far.

Thanks for reading.