How Going Viral Changed my Writer’s Life Forever
This is how 3 years of blood, sweat, and words lead to a breakthrough
Yes, it happened. My latest story hit the charts and still growing as we speak. If you haven’t experienced it yet, it's an ultra dopamine infused ride that makes 200 people liking your Facebook post feel like a mouse squeaking in a desert.
Seriously, its a blast. This is my biggest lesson and takeaway so far from it:
If you continue to put in the work, show up, write those words every-single-day, you-will-get-rewarded.
Period, not a shadow of a doubt. And there is only one reason that sticks out for this like the graphs of my story I just looked at:
You writing will and must improve by showing up daily, or in the timeframe that is reasonable for you to show up. This is what Medium and writing for the platform have shown me so far. It is the most honest and pure platform out there in virtual content-land.
In December I put my intention to write for 3 months in a row, one-piece a day. I didn’t make that target, I wrote 72 published stories right now.
This is what I learned in a nutshell:
- I learned more about discipline
- I was disappointed many times when I looked at the stats since with each and every blog I felt I was going to rock the boat
- I made strategies about posting what, where and when and in which publication
- I read a ton of articles about writing here and how eventually to make it
- I got curated like 3 to 4 times in a month, each time that happened was a huge motivation to continue the journey
- I thought I was in curation jail for 3 weeks, the longest strike without curation, instead of throwing the towel I became even more resilient since I felt I needed to convince the platform they were wrong and I was going to show them, and they listened
- My ex started to write here too and we read each others stuff
And… pffff, so much more.
I will dive into the going viral part now since you can read literally millions of pieces on Medium on how to write on Medium and how to go viral. I love them all. But what you are about to read is not about that. It is about
What going Viral changed in my writer's life and what it potentially can do for you too.
The reward goes deeper than you think
I did self publish my novel “The Wisdom Keeper” 3 years ago, so I can call myself a writer. But read this first;
What do you notice, apart from the spelling mistake? It shows exactly the sentiment I had after writing my novel. I still asked myself this question often in the dark corners of my mind: Am I really a writer?
I even stuttered when people asked me what I do for a living; “Uh, yes, in fact, I am a writer.” Silly, but I understand now why I simply didn’t have the confidence.
My novel was received well, and for many, it was an absolute page-turner. It is sold throughout shops in Ibiza and is available on Amazon, and I sold probably more than 500 copies in those 2 years following the publishing, it never gave me the feeling I have now.
One blog ‘making it’ on Medium gives me more confidence and reward that my 3-year self-publishing struggle
WOW, did I just write that? It is painful and confronting to read that again, but I am afraid it is very true. This is why.
Steps that count
1. Create your platform first The 1.5 years writing for Medium before the breakthrough gave me, as small it might be, a platform.
My novel fell out of the blue heaven for aspiring debut novel writers and… nobody was standing there to catch it.
In simple words: I didn’t have any platform to receive the 66,000 words I had written. Only after the launch I started working on creating my audience.
This is what the masters on this platform like August Birch will tell you repeatedly:
You will need to create your platform first so when you open your shop you have people waiting outside in line to buy your art.
There is much to say about blogging first to create your fanbase and then write your first novel.
2. I found my tribe I realise that after putting all that blood, sweat and words into this platform, Medium feels like my family now. It is my community of writers, my home almost.
With going viral, I made myself visible to my blogging tribe. It is like saying: “Hello, here I am.”
The piece I wrote that had the breakthrough makes me pretty naked. It has probably all the ingredients to bake the perfect Medium cake.
Life lessons offering valuable wisdom and really useful takeaways, combined with nutty phrases, and some humour to keep it balanced. And well written, of course.
Also, I believe the theme of the blog resonates with life challenges that many of my family members on Medium are facing right now.
This feeling of connection, and my fellow writers and readers embracing me with claps and reads, this deep feeling of being seen and rewarded I feel right now, is most precious.
I salute you all so deeply for it because it makes me finally able to say,
I AM A WRITER
3. I kept fighting and did not surrender
The last reason I feel a writer now is this. It is a deep one.
I was fighting for 3 years to get my book to the masses. First I had to write it, then work out the process of self-publishing. Ah, I almost forget the hundreds of hours of work spent writing to publishers, sending the manuscript, waiting for the inevitable rejection, organizing my launch, distributing the books myself, starting a Facebook group and Twitter account.
When I look back now, all that effort for 3 bloody years was not rewarded, financially.
I probably invested $10,000 - I even had the book translated into English from Dutch, I learned how to publish on Amazon. And I sold 12 copies so far on that platform.
I don't feel ashamed to tell you this. It is part of the process. I sold most of the 500 other books in real bookstores, so I did make money. But somehow it never gave me the reward as going viral on Medium. And the Medium money will be much, much less.
I was fighting all the time, to make it. And I didn’t receive enough reward.
The point is:
All my previous writer's struggle and consequent lessons brought me to a point where writing my viral blog on Medium felt effortless.
And this is really crucial. It is the crest of a huge creative wave that took years to build up.
The crest of any creative wave will always feel like you are bringing your gift, your art to this world effortlessly. Because there is maximum flow at that point that will bring maximum results.
When you have the feeling you are still fighting, fight on. Don't give up, you are building your wave and you will reach your creative climax in time. All the steps are necessary to get there and it might feel like a tunnel without the light at the end. But every action you do, any effort you show, counts.
It shows that you are a true writer, it displays your passion for turning your life into an artwork. Life will reward that with the biggest ‘artist career’ orgasm you will experience:
Other people truly rewarding your work and money flowing in effortlessly.
The aftermath
This brings me to the ‘ugly’ part. I am writing this piece about going viral for you, but also for myself, as a good morning therapy session to give this experience a place in my system, to make it land. To be honest, I haven’t quite landed yet, since the charts are still skyrocketing. I don’t mind taking that dopamine bath, especially when I remember it is the reward for years of work.
But I can't get myself to write a ‘normal’ article just yet. I am used to doing that almost every day, and going viral kind of disrupted that. This is pure psychology I guess.
On a deeper level, I am worried about disappointing my family and my old and new writing peers
Will I be able to maintain my level? Will they still embrace me with fresh new claps and reads? Can I ever bear the sight of: VIEWS 86 READS 34 CLAPS 3?
Yes, I can. A wave is a wave. A crest is a crest. I will probably experience a descent in my claps and reads, and I should be OK with that. I need to realize that I am already building a new wave, a new top. Like the sea.
I will never forget the feeling I have right now, and again I am so super grateful for all of you out there. Keep on working on your wave, know that it is a wave, and that showing up creates that wave. For me, it came quite unexpectedly. Although I felt I had reached a new level of quality.
Work towards that level, learn from each and every piece. They are the water that will make the top. And when you finally get there, wave back to me, please. I might be just at the bottom again and need it.
This is my viral article in case you got interested
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Lucien is author of “The Wisdom Keeper”, blogger, and creative content creator. He lives in front of a wonderful magnetic rock in Ibiza where he organizes retreats. He loves Hiking and dancing tango and has 14 wild cats. Lucien loves to write, learn and grow as a human and writer every single day.
