STORYTELLING
Congrats, Illumination! You Gave Me a Home and a Warm Group of Friends
After the first year, Illumination is a toddler now!
When I started out on Medium, I was lonely. I was a writer. I knew what I was doing. But I had a hard time making it fun to build a successful writing business.
And then, exactly one year ago, I got an email from Dr Mehmet Yildiz. He was starting Illumination and asked if I wanted to write for his publication. He had found my work in other publications and he liked what he saw.
I said yes, and I never looked back. And what a rollercoaster journey it has been! I could never have suspected it would change so much!
One year of concentrating on growing the publications as a writer and a guest editor. But most importantly, one year of making great friends. I finally had a home where I could be me. All of me. Serious me. Silly me. And my friends even challenged me to become the poetic me.
I’m not a native speaker but I grew my audience to 4.8K followers and found wisdom in growing my audience with social media, diversification, and building a portfolio.
I landed on firm, supportive ground, and could ask other writers’ advice if I had questions. Thanks, my friends. In the first year, Illumination grew solid wings…
Illumination has 5 publications now.
- Illumination for general stories
- Illuminations-Mirror just because the quantity became too big
- Illumination-Curated for guaranteed quality stories
- Synergy for stories about enhancing your writing success
- Technology Hits for stories about technology, the future, and our inevitable trouble with technology
I write for them all. About business, science, philosophy, nature, poetry, and sisterhood. But I also expanded my reach by writing for many other publications.
Illumination is very inclusive and has the aim to make all of us successful without feeling any competition. Our motto is Diversity, Synergy, Fusion, and Serendipity. The more quality we show on the Medium platform in general, the more all publications recognize our value.
So, now I have it all. A home. A fine, warm group of friends and an ever-growing audience for my writing. I’m a writer with solid wings now!
And if you wonder what the secret of our success is? It’s very simple. Anyone can copy our success. Because we all have one element in common: we enjoy human connection. Honest connection. Conversations with many other writers and readers on this and other social media platforms.
Thank you, my Illumination friends. It’s been an awesome year thanks to all of you and more of you. I just can’t mention you all, you are with so many… But I really enjoyed every conversation we had so far. And I hope we’ll continue to be close.
Martine Trista Selma Elisabeth Amy Michele Rebecca Rebecca Zelam Dew Tree Agnes Agnes Jenine Adelia Kaia Yael Maria CR Annelise Nicole Caroline Melissa Charlotte Gurpreet Lanu Aurora Annick Neha Noma Sherry Paul Bill Kathryn Joe George Jessica B. A. Tony Rasheed Henery Chowa FILZA 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 Simona Tamela Jayne Infiniti Russ Salam Ravyne Fred Liam The Maverick Thewriteyard Stuart Maria Sumera Ntathu Arthur Britni Dipti Eliot Dr John Daniella Ryan Helen Jo Ann Kevin Nicole Kim Priya J.J. Roz Jyssica Radha Upen Suzanne Tre René Terry Jill Eli Shin Karen ◦•●✿ Christina Kat Dr. Christine Keno Dennett Lucy
Want to connect? You can find me somewhere on our beautiful planet, with my hands in the soil and my eyes gazing at moonshots and quantum leaps. Or find me via Linktree.
© Désirée Driesenaar