I Wrote 143 Articles for 56 Publications in 150 Days
Cheers to passing the 1000 follower milestone!
When do you finally put your feet up on the desk and lean back knowing that you’ve made it?
Whatever this mythical “it” is — confidence, inner peace, wisdom — I haven’t found it yet. I also don’t have real desk so I’ll have to settle for putting my feet up on whatever semi-flat surface I’ve chosen to perch on.
One, Two, Three, Four, Five …
This wraps up my fifth month with the 30-day writing challenge.
Month 1 was trial by fire — can I even write? Yes, no, maybe so.
Month 2 was confirmation that Month 1 wasn’t just a fluke. Because, you know, imposter syndrome …
Month 3 made me question habit versus addiction. One is healthy, one is not so healthy — but there’s a fine line, especially when there’s a light sprinkling of burnout for garnish.
Month 4 was my attempt to do more with less. My execution was on point with a 91% curation ratio but the results — views and reads — didn’t come.
And Month 5? My focus for Month 5 was balance. Balance between quality vs quantity. Balance between my writing life vs my “real life” life. Balance between pandemic life vs “normal” life.
… Once I Caught a Fish Alive!
This month marks a few milestones in my writing journey.
I passed 1000 followers!
It feels amazing to know that there are 1000 people out there who are interested enough in my writing to want to come back for more. It feels like only yesterday that my goal was to hit 250 followers.
I was able to do more with less!
When I read about writers only writing 2 stories recently but earning the most they’ve ever earned, it makes me feel rather inadequate. Logically, I know that they already have a decent backlog of stories and a large enough base of followers for this to happen, but how many stories is enough?
Whether this month was a fluke or my TSN turning point (at 141 stories and 1150 followers), I’m going to enjoy my first month easing up on the gas pedal while still seeing results.
I’m letting go of my one article per day obsession
Publishing 30 articles in 30 days to 30 publications is a fantastic challenge. It took me farther than I ever could have imagined in my writing journey.
But I have a bit of an addictive personality. When someone gives me a target to hit, I go after that bullseye — maybe with a little too much enthusiasm. I wasn’t quite sure how to stop after the first month.
The drive to write and publish was too addicting. After my original 30-day challenge, I still felt uncomfortable when I wasn’t publishing. I struggled with this feeling that I was falling behind — falling behind in exactly what I wasn’t sure but I just felt anxious and pressured.
My momentum carried me for a couple more months but a little voice in my head kept reminding me that I’d already successfully finished my challenge. It was coaxing me to stop and find balance.
I finally had my first story “come back to life”
Most of my stories are pretty short-lived. They gain traction within the first few days and then fizzle out. I’ve read many writers tell tales of not losing faith in stories that don’t originally take off; that months after publishing, some mysterious force breathes life back into the article and it takes off.
2 months after the story’s initial publication, “He Asked Me if I Was the Cleaning Lady” took off. It’s my top performer to date and, with this “resurrection”, I feel like I’ve achieved another writing milestone.
I didn’t promote it. I didn’t tweak any keywords. I didn’t adjust any tags. It just happened. I wish I knew what it was that pleased the algorithm gods; perhaps I should make an offering for more good fortune!
The Medium Writing Challenge
I’m a sucker for writing prompts. When the Medium Writing Challenges were released, it was the motherload of writing prompts — sparkly prizes included.
On one hand, it was inspirational and motivating for a community of writers to be mobilized and focused on the same four topics. There were a lot of different perspectives and unique angles. No stone was left unturned and creativity was unleashed.
On the other hand, it felt a little … exploitive? There was a lot of soul searching, digging deep into some emotional pits that maybe weren’t ready to see the light of day. Granted, no one’s forcing anyone to write for these challenges other than #fomo (fear of missing out).
Participate at your own peril. Now the waiting game begins.
To Infinity and Beyond — At Least for Another Month
My focus for Month 6 will be confidence.
I’m not a particularly confident writer. I’m not a professional copywriter or content creator. I didn’t study English in university and I don’t have a formal-looking piece of paper to reassure me.
A tiny part of me is still waiting for the writing gods that be to magically appear and welcome me into the prestigious ranks of real writers. Maybe it’ll happen after this arbitrary 6 month “probation period” I’ve given myself.
But till then, looks like it’s just me and my writing muse. Here’s to reminding myself to be my own best cheerleader.
My MWC Entries:
(I miiiight have been targeting a very specific judge for the Space topic :P )
Top 3 Performers:
(Written long before they closed their submissions to writers)