Summary

An author reflects on their journey to becoming a better and successful writer through consistent writing, learning from the Medium community, and applying insights from top writers and publications over the course of a year.

Abstract

The author shares their transformation from a novice blogger to a confident, professional writer through their experiences on Medium. Initially met with silence on personal blogs, they turned to Medium, where they found a supportive community and valuable resources. Over time, by engaging with diverse content, participating in writing boot camps, and contributing to various publications, the author developed a more efficient writing process and gained practical knowledge. This culminated in securing their first writing client and feeling empowered to offer advice on writing and visibility strategies. The article emphasizes the unique opportunities Medium offers, such as access to a vast audience, constructive feedback, and a wealth of educational content, which are instrumental in a writer's growth and success.

Opinions

The author believes that Medium's supportive community and resources are unparalleled, offering a unique environment for writers to thrive.
They suggest that consistent writing and engagement with the platform lead to improvement and success, rather than expecting overnight viral success.
The article conveys that learning from established writers like Kristina

How My First Year on Medium Made Me a Better, More Successful Writer

The tools are all there if you look

Today, I am a successful writer thanks to the time I have spent over the past year writing on Medium.

I began writing many, many moons ago. But it was always just something I did for myself or work-related.

Then about three years ago, I got sort of serious and started two blogs. I was so excited and did everything I could to make them look and read the part. Or so I thought. The day I hit publish came and tada! I was greeted with a spectacular chorus of crickets.

As the months went by, I wrote and I wrote but still crickets.

Feeling let down but not out, I searched for other avenues, and I came across this platform, Medium. For $5.00 a month, I could read, write and publish to my little heart’s content.

Being a complete newbie, I waded in slowly to check if the water was safe and submitted a few stories here and there. Not having a niche, I wrote about what interested me on that particular day or dug up old writings and used them for inspiration.

Now, this is where some writers will tell you they hit the jackpot and something they wrote went viral.

But that is not my story.

My story is more like the tortoise than the hare.

Over the first few months, I wrote some weeks, others I let life get in the way.

I knew I wanted to be a successful writer, but I struggled with how to go about it.

A few more months went by, and I read more and more. Yes, it was a lot of “How to succeed on Medium” types, but I also read poetry, fiction, life lessons, and so much more. I enjoyed the variety, and I learned along the way about what a success story looks like and how it reads. Plus, I found some fantastic writers.

Then along came God, I mean Kristina God, and our community of boot campers. Here I learned even more. I learned things like formatting, marketing, and how to interpret stats.

I dug deeper into some of the other top writers like Tim Denning and Nicolas Cole. I followed writers like Zulie Rane, Sinem Günel, and Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi, who offer excellent free tips to help the struggling writer. Many of these exceptional writers also provide valuable paid courses on how to improve your writing.

At first, I swam to some of the new publications just starting, like The Memoirist and Coffee Times. In the beginning, I was intimidated by the publications and felt utterly inadequate to submit my work, but eventually, I took off the life jacket and jumped in. I learned how to write Shortform for what else, The Shortform and The Brain is a Noodle. I published in Illumination and various other publications, and I self-published.

The more I published, the more experience and knowledge I gained. The more my confidence improved.

I no longer spent hours writing just to turn around the next day and rewrite it all over again before I even started editing. Now:

I write
I edit
I publish.

Then I start writing again.

It has been a year, and today I sat down with my first client beyond Medium. Not only did I feel comfortable talking the talk but also walking the walk. I was able to show a portfolio of my work and question him about hit intended audience, linking, and formatting. We discussed social media and improving their visibility.

I knew what the hell I was talking about!

I am getting paid to write! I may not be a Top Writer here, and I may not ever have a viral article. But I am building a career.

The #1 reason you should write on this platform is that there is nowhere else you will find such a supportive community of writers and editors who share their knowledge and experience with anyone who will take the time to listen. And if that isn’t enough, there are millions of readers each month who graciously show up, read and then take time to share how our writing affected them.

Nowhere else can you find this treasure chest of gold just lying across your computer screen. There are no excuses here. It is all yours for the taking. Now, what are you going to do with it?