Gone Are Days of Being a Top Writer

I know it is just a badge, but still, it would be nice to have one again.

With 2021 came many changes on Medium, and I'm not complaining. On the contrary, Medium has also been good to me.

When I was starting, all I wanted was to write, and then I wanted to be published by the biggest publications, and then I wanted the views, and then I wanted the money.

It is Ok to set goals, but one must have a strong heart when things don't happen as planned.

I have yet to live on my income as a writer, and I have accepted that for now. However, I need to do better and not quit.

The only question worth asking myself is —

If I still enjoy writing?

And the answer is YES!

Congrats, you're a top writer.

I miss getting these emails, it says, “Congrats you're a top writer in” for me, they are incentives to continue, especially for many of us who are at home, all alone, it is important to receive some good news, and we all know that good news was hard to come by during the last two years of this new world we live in.

I was a top writer on these topics

1. Privacy
2. Music
3. Social Media
4. Photography
5. This Happened to Me

And today, I have lost them all.

This year, I have been writing movie reviews, and when my first story was chosen for further distribution, I knew if I wrote more film reviews, I could be a top writer on the topic of — film.

I also discovered a template in writing a film review, although it's only when I publish with Counter Arts that my stories get curated.

This month, I already have five movie reviews, all curated, and I was hoping that would be enough to receive a top award, but I haven't received any email yet.

I checked the top writer list on the topic of film and was surprised that now it only has ten authors, when before it was fifty.

I don't know what it means or if that hurt my chances of getting the top writer badge.

Before all it took was three curated stories from the same topic, and with some luck, some views, and if there is a spot on the list, you are likely to be awarded the top writer badge.

Final words.

If it happens, I will update this story.

But for now, I don't want to fixate on getting a top writer badge under the Film topic, it will be nice, but it shouldn't be why I am writing film reviews.

I enjoy watching movies. I especially miss the times when my friends and I can go watch movies together and then, the after coffee that comes after watching the movie, to review if it was any good or not.

A few days later, I reached out to my filmmaker friends to check how they were doing and what new movies they watched.

It brought me back to the days when we would pass an invite to the group chat to see who was available to watch a movie together. That may take a long time to happen again as I'm not comfortable watching movies in theaters, but now more than ever, I know how I miss my friends, the movies, and that's all because my friends are my mirror.

I may or may not get the top writer badge this month, but writing film reviews gives me joy, and for now, that's one more reason why I won't quit writing, as what gives one joy, one must embrace it with a grateful heart.