How Amazing Is It to Be a Writer on Medium?

It’s always nice to remind yourself why Medium is such an awesome place for writers!

One thing I love about Medium is the community.

I’ve talked a lot on here about how I used to write for years and years with nobody seeing what I was doing.

I’ve written twenty-one novels, and most of them have only been read by two to five people. I spent many years writing content for blogs that in retrospect… were barely read at all. That received not a single comment after months and months of hard work.

To pour my heart out to you every day on Medium and receive actual reads, and responses, and claps… it never fails to amaze me each and every day!

Especially with the return readers. The readers I see clapping for and supporting my work day after day, week after week. It’s the kind of support that makes my heart happy. It’s the kind of support that makes me feel so very grateful to be on Medium at this point in my writing life.

I was lucky a few months ago to join some online Facebook communities that support Medium writers.

These places are so awesome. Medium writers supporting other Medium writers. Meeting people who write awesome content in topics I would never think to write in. Meeting people who write the same content as me, but do it in their own personal styles.

I’m a part of five Facebook groups now that bring together Medium writers, and they are like these little safe zones of creativity where you can share links to your work, clap for others, share any questions and concerns.

As soon as I joined them, I started becoming more and more successful on Medium. I don’t know what I would do without them.

What I ultimately can’t stop thinking is how freaking cool it is to be a writer right now on Medium.

It’s always been a total blast writing for Medium, all the way since that first day in early May of 2018. Even when I was writing and publishing content for months that got few reads and zero claps. Even when I was making on average just $25 a month on here.

But the current moment definitely feels like the time to be writing for Medium. I don’t care what you write, there is simply no excuse to not be spending part of your day on Medium. There’s no excuse to not be writing articles about your process, reading and supporting others, and looking for ways to build your e-mail list and make some additional income.

I did some freelance writing years ago for companies that would give me the topics I had to write on. They’d tell me how many words they were looking for and how they wanted everything formatted.

The structure was always ridiculously rigid, to the point where I would sort lose of my own voice.

On Medium, however, what you write… is entirely up to you. You can share your poetry and get paid for it. You can write on specific topics you’re passionate about, that you have expertise in, that many readers out there are currently looking for.

You’re in control of your own destiny on Medium, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Sure, you’re going to be met with failure sometimes. Sometimes you’ll publish a story that’s from the heart… and nobody’s going to care. It happens. If you write and publish a lot on here, not everything is always going to go your way.

But no matter what, as long as you keep writing great content, you will go far on Medium.

I mean, here’s what my first month looked like on the site in May 2018…

And here’s what it looks like now…

A bit different, am I right? The key to having an amazing Medium journey is devoting at least a little bit of time every day to this site, and never giving up.

In May 2018, I made $13 on Medium. Eight months later, in January 2019, I made $29. Not much difference.

But then in March I made $178, and in April I made $576, and then last summer I was making $800 or more a month, and since this past April I’ve made more than $1000 with each passing month!

I’m making more money right now than I ever have as a writer… and I get to do it by writing and publishing what I love. Writing and publishing exactly what I want when I want.

It’s just another reason why Medium is such a freaking cool place to be for writers. Never take it for granted!

Here’s how to make 2020 your best writing year ever.

Brian Rowe is a writer, teacher, and constant dreamer. He received his MFA in Creative Writing and MA in English from the University of Nevada, Reno, and his BA in Film from Loyola Marymount University. He’s on Facebook and Twitter, and you can read more of his work at brianrowebooks.com.