My 101st story
A Tale of Medium Milestones
If I can do it, so can you
Apologies to the readers if this comes across as bragging. I assure you, it isn't.
My motivation to write this story is to empower other writers who are either starting out here on this platform or have some personal milestones set in their hearts regarding Medium.
It was an amazing achievement to wake up today(Oct 24, 2021) as I achieved 2 of my milestones simultaneously. It was self-affirmation in my writing on reaching the following milestones:
- I published my 100th story on Medium.
- I reached the 1,000 followers mark where it shows a "K" on my followers count instead of the entire number. (Yay me! 😬)
It took me 27 months to reach these milestones. However, the journey was not easy as it tested my patience along the road many times.
I think I reached this point because I was able to get back up every time either the algorithm or lack of motivation put me down. It wasn't easy to keep producing stories with my full-time studies, but I am proud of myself for doing it and reaching where I am.
The journey is far from over, I feel it is just getting started, but it is a tick in the motivation column in my head to keep going.
There are a lot of things I learned along the way. I want to share them with my fellow writers to maybe help them achieve some of their milestones.
Lessons Learned Along the Way
There is no shortcut.
Keep writing what your heart tells you to, and one day, people will recognize you. Continuous writing will hone your craft and will allow you to produce better stories gradually.
I tried many tips and tricks that people have shared about increasing your readership on Medium, only to realize that it is like shooting in the dark where you can't see your target. You might hit the target sometimes, but most times, you won't.
What matters, in the end, is your writing, nothing else.
Titles are important
There are two reasons that the titles are important. One of them is a technical reason, and the other is a psychological reason.
- The technical reason is vital for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to rank your stories better on search engines. This happened to me after the fact a few of my stories had already been published. A few of my articles are ranked on the first page of Google Search and a couple of them in the first two results.
I receive about 11K-13K views every 30 days because of these stories. Even though the number of people who read is albeit less but these views still keep my stories relevant to the Medium algorithm. I am assuming that the four referred members I gained are because of these external views.
- The psychological reason for titles being important is to entice the reader to read your story. I am not telling you to write clickbait titles but rather informative and exciting titles that are truthful to your story.
Networking with fellow writers and readers
The thing more important than the count of followers is how many people come back to read your stories again.
Another crucial thing is getting to know other writers on the platform, learning from them, and growing together.
No two writers are the same. Any writer other than you has the potential to teach you something, and you have the potential to teach the other writers something based on your experiences. It is all about growing together because, in the end, stories win, not the writers.
I want to thank a few amazing writers whom I met during my Medium journey so far. I apologize in advance if I miss some names 😔.
Carrie. A. Kelly | Luba Sigaud | Nikki Waterson | Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) | Penelope Mayfield | Diana C. | Jimmy Misner Jr. | Kristy Westaway | Eliza Lita | Rose Butcher | Rebecca Herz
Do not chase the money
When I started writing on Medium back in 2019, my sole aim was to earn some side money which made me produce some subpar stories. I am not proud of those stories. But over time, as my goal changed from focusing on money to honing my craft of writing, I have been able to produce some stories that I am really proud of.
I saw the best example of it when I participated in a challenge started by David Majister: 30-day 30-pubs 30-stories submission challenge in July 2021. I wrote and published 32 stories in 30 days, albeit not on 30 pubs because of rejections or too much time taken to respond by big pubs. I secured a spot in the top 2,000 writers on Medium and earned a $50 bonus.
During this entire challenge, I wrote what I felt like without an ounce of thought to the bonus or earnings. The bonus felt special because of the lack of intent from my end to earn it.
Let the stories flow from your heart, and the money will come to you eventually. This reminds me of a dialogue from a Bollywood movie called 3 Idiots.
Chase excellence, success will follow obligatorily.
- Ranchhoddas “Rancho” Shamaldas Chanchad, 3 Idiots
Consistency is the king
The age-old advice — be consistent. As I mentioned above, when I wrote 30+ stories in 30 days, I received terrific unseen results.
I am not asking you to write or publish daily. What I am saying is that find a consistent routine that fits in your life and stick with it. I promise results will follow you.
Thank you for reading!
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You can find my stories here in this index: