Do You Ever Feel Like No One Comments On Your Stories?

Even the experts have low performing stories!

As new or struggling writers on Medium, it’s easy to assume that everyone besides you is doing well on the platform.

But believe it or not, there are writers who may be just as frustrated as you currently feel.

In fact, lots of Medium writers are struggling and working as hard as they can.

It’s an ongoing effort, trying to improve our stats and increase our earnings.

And it doesn’t help any, when we start to feel like no one’s really listening to what we have to say.

That is why so many Medium writers enjoy the feeling they get, when readers actually leave comments on their stories.

Even when low earnings show up on their stats pages, some writers mange to find consolation, thanks to motivating comments and feedback on various stories.

As I’ve stated on more than one occasion, the commenting section on our Medium stories is like the office water cooler.

Some members gain their greatest amount of joy, by simply engaging on stories, and reading and writing responses.

Even writers like myself are drawn to the comment section, in spite of my having mixed feelings on the subject, due to a couple of negative encounters.

What about you?

Wouldn’t you agree that seeing a bunch of “Responses” among your Notifications is a very satisfying feeling?

Not only is there the motivation factor and the feeling of having our egos stroked, but we also learn valuable lessons from useful feedback.

• So what happens when you have stories that, for whatever reason, don’t receive the kind of responses that you expected?
• Does this automatically mean that there’s something wrong with your story?

Even the experts have low performing stories

Recently, I was surprised to notice a story on the Creators Hub, that had a relatively low number of responses, even though it was an open thread, specifically asking for replies.

The story is titled: What’s the Best Piece of Writing Advice You’ve Ever Gotten?

I thought it was an awesome read, especially since it focused on a topic that I’ve been writing a lot about — reacting to good advice.

The reason I was so surprised, is because Elvina Fan (the writer) is in Operations @ Medium. She is obviously included among the professional creators that we look to as models for our own writing.

But the statistical details on her story just go to show how anyone of us writers can have negative results that are hard to understand.

Notice these details:

• Elvina’s story was published in April 2022 — nearly one year ago (as of this writing).
• The Creators Hub (where it was published) currently has 73k followers.
• The story has 557 claps, though this is no indication of how well the story really did, or how much the story earned.

The story received no more than 28 responses.

Clearly, for any of us mere mortal writers, the 28 responses would be a cause for celebration.

In fact, if this writer is anything like me, she was probably appreciative for the 28 responses that she did receive.

But based on the large following, and the clout that comes with this writer’s position on Medium — the story definitely under performed.

So what does that mean? Was it a poorly written story, or was the topic uninteresting?

Personally, I doubt it.

Sometimes, it’s just one of those things…

Final Thoughts

In case you’ve read this far, and managed to miss the point, I’m not writing this story to point the finger or put Elvina’s story down.

To the contrary, I enjoyed the brief invitation to respond on the subject of good writing advice.

Just like the story asked, I left my reply about the best writing advice I ever received.

You can go read what I wrote, and while you’re at it, leave your own response.

The main reason I shared this story, is to provide a bit of encouragement.

So often, when our stories don’t receive the recognition or the feedback that we expect, we sometimes begin to doubt ourselves.

Is it possible that we’re doing something wrong?

Yep!

In most of our cases, it’s more than likely that we are…

BUT —

It’s also possible that it has nothing to do with us or the story, just like in the case of Medium experts who encounter the same issue.

As always, we can continue taking lessons from these professional creators on Medium.

And one of the best ways to do that, is by not letting low performing stories keep us down and frustrated.

Instead, just keep in mind that the same thing happens to us all, even the pros. So maybe it’s not you or your story this time.

Maybe, it’s just one of those things…