Fifty stories published, five lessons learned.

Habits, tools, stats and rewards.

My most recent story published mattered to me for two reasons. First, because it was my first submission to one of my favorite publications, The Haven. I appreciate the Haven especially for it’s philosophy that a writer can be funny without being a jerk. Joining the ranks of those writers felt good.

The second reason this story mattered is that it was number 5–0 on my personal scoreboard of published stories. Sure, it’s taken me a couple years to get there, but I celebrate every landmark, milestone, anniversary, and achievement no matter how small.

Here is story number 50, in case you are wondering:

What do I know now that I didn’t know as a Medium newbie? Not a lot, actually, but here are a few thoughts I hope you find useful.

Lesson One: No stories are set in stone. You can always revise.

I’ve had that cringey experience of finding a mistake after hitting that publish button. Or realized my snappy title was just off-putting, not engagind. And worst of all — the confused dread of reading back through an older story to realize it just needed more work before publishing.

None of those experiences feel good, but it’s all part of growing as a writer. And all of them are fixable. And going back to early stories with fresh eyes and a better grasp of formatting expectations — that is time well spent. For example, I just learned how to add a kicker to the title! Watch for those coming soon to my older stories.

Sometimes the comments given after a story have made me take a second look. An insightful criticism may sting a bit and push me toward a knee-jerk reaction (whaat? did this guy even read my whole story?) I’m still learning to stay open and look back to see what that reader saw. Here’s one example of that, when I added a P.S. at the end of the story after realizing I hadn’t been clear about my role in the story or my own views.

Lesson Two: After publishing, don’t check Medium stats for several days.

Especially when the piece you just published or submitted is near and dear to your heart.

The more meaningful the story, the more I crave feedback. I want to share the experience, the inspiration and insights with others — and I want their feedback, pronto. Even though I am fully aware that my treasure-filled epistle is now competing with a zillion other stories hot off the PUBLISH NOW button. Who knows how my story fits into the algorithm of the day?

If I check for reads, claps and comments too soon, I just get depressed. I feel like the last kid picked for the kickball team (I do personally know that feeling, and pray that gym teachers have improved on that archaic team-building practice.) Even if the stats are slow to build, take heart — several of my stories have bubbled back up months later.

Here is one story that I thought would be an immediate hit . I thought “of course everyone will be as interested as I am in the welfare of honeybees!” Eventually it did find an audience, and I think the story is still relevant, but I spent too much time refreshing my stats page when it first published.

Lesson three: My best writing tool is not a pen or computer.

My best writing ideas never come to me when I am writing. Ugh! It makes me crazy when I sit down to write and my mind suddenly feels like a well gone dry, hollow as a drum, lifeless as Death Valley.

Especially when I’ve just returned from hiking the dog while my head swirled with brilliant connections and ideas for my next story. Poof! All gone when my fingers hit the keyboard.

My work-around for this disruptive brain vacuum comes in the form of an app that most everyone has on their phone: the voice memo recorder. Whenever that lightbulb goes on in my head (hey! this would be a good Medium post!) I talk to myself on the recorder app and just let the ideas flow.

Recording a rambling stream of consciousness works for me is because there’s no way to go back and self-edit. Sometimes the ideas are loony, but sometimes they give me a whole new perspective. Here is an example of a story that came out of a recorded conversation with myself during a semi-delirious desert hike:

Lesson four: Decide how to judge your own success on Medium.

There’s no shortage of meta-Medium articles that dive into how to get more views, followers and $$$. I won’t go into that here, mainly because I’m not a fan of the meta stories. I love the writers who share insightful life lesson stories, the amazing-people-through-history stories, the adventure stories and most of all, the writers who infuse their stories with humor and satire and manage to sneak in some feel-good inspiration. At the same time, it’s impossible to ignore the statistics and I’d definitely accept better compensation for my work.

So how do I balance the time, effort, sweat and tears that go into writing Medium stories with the lack of tangible rewards? Medium pays by counting the minutes that readers keep their eyes on your words. To me, both parts of that sentence matters: eyes on my words, as well as that meager monthly deposit.

Most of all it’s the comments, claps, and followers I crave and appreciate. That is how I measure my success. I love the interaction, the validation. It’s far more rewarding than the hours I’ve spent submitting to print publications that may have more status but will end up in the recycling. Here is my story that dives into that topic:

And that brings us to Lesson five: Quit lurking and engage.

In truth Medium is a social media platform, just more long-form than instagram or twitter. Remember how to be social?

I try to read and interact with a couple stories every day. I don’t always find time but it’s my intention to build that habit. Because I’m here for the community, and lurking in the background hoping someone likes my stuff is no way to build a community.

If a story keeps me engaged, I keep my finger on the clap button for a while. Be generous with your claps! I never highlight unless I have a comment specific to that sentence, because I think the highlighting feature is distracting for future readers. And if a story makes me smile, or think, or gain empathy, I’ll let the writer know in a comment — -and thank them for sharing their words.

Did these lessons give you anything to think about? If so leave me a comment below!

Happy writing.