Being a Writer For A Month
My journey so far in the content-creation world.
It was a month ago since I decided to become a writer. Time runs very fast and I’m now reaching my second month. I learnt a lot from it and it’s shaped me as what I am. My first post on how the COVID-19 situation turned my life surely did its role.
I didn’t realise after writing my first post, it changes my mindset forever. Ever since that day, I always said to myself that I want to become a content-creator and start doing my own work. I was thinking to start YouTube, but maybe not now. It doesn’t take that long that I become addicted to content-creation since I spend every day to do research, reading stories and writing my stories.
I have millions of ideas to say. From productivity, technology, motivation, life-experience or world events. More than that, I’m also interested in exploring different topics too, since I wanted to know more about my readers and to see how capable I am in writing these topics.
After few weeks pasts, I started to gain my confidence. I said to myself “I know I can do it!”. Seeing an increase in my stats made me very pleased. At some point, I always think “How can I even increase my viewers and their reading time?”. Then, I decided to join two Medium community groups on Facebook for more engagement with the members and tips from the experts. They really inspire me to become a better writer. Not long after that, I can see the difference and improvement I made.
At the same time, I experienced some downtimes too.
In my third week, I was feeling a bit pressured seeing other people that are very active and gain a lot of popularity in just a few months. Most writers posted more than one stories per day, with high-quality information. I felt mine was just mediocre.
More to that, I was losing some viewers from some people that use to be like my stories. Some of them may find it a little annoying seeing my post every week.
I was thinking “What did I do wrong? Is it not interesting enough? Is it too long?”.
Then one day, I saw this post by Tom Kuegler
I was in silent. I kept thinking about myself. “Am I overthinking and putting too much pressure?”.
In the end, there’s one quote that resonates me,
Real writers are in this for something far more valuable than money. We’re in this to discover ourselves. We’re in this for personal reflection and honesty.
I realise that a lot of people gave up in the middle of their journey because they thought that money and income is the sole purpose. Some people stop doing it because they didn’t earn enough.
Let me tell you, my first monthly income in Medium didn’t even reach a single dollar digit. I know it’s a bit embarrassing, but I have nothing to worry about. Moreover, I’m very grateful to those numbers, since it comes from my own effort.
I know that gaining extra cash from writing is great, but I consider that as a bonus. The most important aspects are:
- Expanding the network with wonderful people in the community
- Developing personal skills and,
- Influence other people
I know that I’m not perfect, but at least I can share with others what they can take from my own experience.
Since I started, I will keep doing it and never stop. This is just the beginning of my career and I still have a lot to learn, as writing is not an easy task.
For people that gave me comments and critics, I sincerely thank each and one of you for the support. You are the reason why I’m still writing.
Yeah, you!
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Christopher Reno Budiman is a writer, explorer and entrepreneur-minded person. He received Bachelor of Business (Hospitality Management) and Bachelor of International Hospitality Management with Swiss Hotel Association accreditation. He’s on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn if you would like to know more about him.