Summary

The author plans to enhance their writing by embarking on a month-long reading challenge, focusing on deep dives into various Medium publications each week.

Abstract

The author, inspired by the 30-day writing challenge, is initiating a reading challenge to elevate their writing skills. Recognizing the vast array of content on Medium, they aim to intentionally explore different publications, reading everything published in a week by each one. This challenge includes submitting a story to the publication and writing about the experience. The goal is to expose themselves to new ideas, improve writing abilities, and gain a deeper understanding of the publications' standards and content quality.

Opinions

The author values the enrichment of writing through habit formation, as evidenced by their previous 30-day challenges.
They believe that reading diverse content is crucial for writing development and that a reading challenge is beneficial for writers at any stage.
The author appreciates the curation efforts of publication editors, viewing their role as essential in navigating Medium's extensive content.
They express a desire to move beyond surface-level engagement with content, emphasizing the importance of reading beyond catchy headlines and feature images.
The author is open to learning from both polished and raw writing styles found within the chosen publications.
They see this reading challenge as an opportunity to discover publications that align with their interests and writing style for future collaboration.

Everybody’s Doing Writing Challenges: Why Not Try a Reading Challenge Too?

I’m starting with a deep dive on publications

30-day challenges are the bomb. David Majister set out to publish 30 stories in 30 different publications and challenged others to do the same. I put my own twist on the challenge and had a great experience. I also challenged myself to start 30 new habits in 30 days with great results.

It’s time for something new to punch up my writing and take it to the next level. This month I’m going to focus on reading. Not reading about writing but reading for the sake of reading. Reading to expose myself to new thoughts and interesting ways of saying things.

Maybe you’ve already done a 30-day writing challenge like me and want something new. Maybe you hope to do a writing challenge in the future and think a reading challenge is a good way to prepare. Yes to both! Anyone can benefit from more reading.

Medium has an incredible array of fantastic writers and stories and I miss most of them. How can I not? It’s an embarrassment of riches swallowed up by a flood of material. I could complain about the algorithm but I might as well complain about the rain. It’s going to fall or not fall whether I like it or not.

If I don’t like the rain situation, I do what is within my power. When it’s raining I choose to stay inside, or don my raincoat and wellies and head out anyway. When it isn’t raining I water my flowers with my can rather than shaking my fist and cursing the sky.

Likewise, I’m through with lamenting what Medium does and does not throw my way via the daily digest and my home page. I’m going to intentionally seek out good writing.

I’ll keep clicking on intriguing stories from the digest and my homepage. I’ll continue to seek out those writers I’ve grown to know always deliver words I love. But I’m going to add in a new challenge for the next month.

I’m going to do a week-long dive on one publication at a time.

Publication editors are the mostly unpaid and unsung heroes of the Medium ecosystem. They shift through the stories sent their way and chose the best ones for their particular purpose.

As a writer we hate getting the dreaded, “Thanks for submitting but this story wasn’t a good fit for us,” but as a reader this is gold. Someone else is doing the work of picking and choosing according to whatever standards they have set. When you find a publication whose standards match yours as a reader why wouldn’t you trust them?

The plan

Each week for the next month I’m going to choose a publication to focus on in addition to my regular reading. I’ll start by reading their submission guidelines or any about us type of page. I will read everything they publish in that week from beginning to end. If they have some type of pinned greatest hits stories I’ll try to read a couple of those too.

At the end of the week I’ll submit a story I think fits the publication. I’ll also write a story about the publication, what I learned and my favorite stories from the week.

The next week I’ll start with a new publication.

I’m looking for the sweet spot of not too many stories and not too few. I want editors who curate a quality collection. I have lots of ideas already but if you want to plug a particular publication I should consider please let me know in the comments.

The goals

Challenging myself to write for more publications was hugely beneficial in growing my following, earnings, and writing abilities. I think a reading challenge can help me do the same.

Reading exposes me to more ideas and different ways of saying things. A reading challenge insures I’ll put time into reading alongside writing.

Choosing to read everything within one publication will get me past the roadblock of skipping readers who haven’t mastered catchy headlines, hooks, and feature images. You learn a lot from following polished writers but there is much to be gained from raw writing as well.

I hope to really get to know the publications I read. Some of these will be a great fit for me going forward and others will fade into the mist but I’ll learn from all of them. Anyone care to join me?

Everybody’s Doing Writing Challenges: Why Not Try a Reading Challenge Too?

I’m starting with a deep dive on publications

The plan

The goals

Embracing Empathy for the Win!

One week of reading everything published by Age of Empathy

Open Letters are Fun to Read and Write

Results of reading a week’s worth of Open Letters To …

Fictions is the Latest, Greatest Thing on Medium You Haven’t Heard of Yet

Focusing on fiction in the final publication for my month of reading challenge

History is Full of Fascinating Women You’ve Never Heard Of

I spent a week reading about them in History of Women