I wrote every day for 183 days. This is what I learned.

Do you really need to write every single day?

Finishing my worst month since May, this leaves me with some thoughts going into December since I have written every day since June 1. The big question is will I continue to publish every day? We shall see.

Like you, there will always be other events that prevent you from writing. This could be a doctor’s appointment, getting your child ready for school, maintenance on your car, your day job, and others. I saw most of these interruptions last month.

There was one factor I didn’t think about at all and you may not have either. The United States just celebrated Thanksgiving which was followed by two more events that weren’t considered holidays but it felt like it. As a writer, you probably saw a decrease in your reads and views.

Many readers took time off either to spend with family or looking for shopping deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. As you head into December, now you have to consider the holidays this month. From Christmas to Hanukkah to Kwanzaa to Eid al-Fitr, this means a lot of readers will be very busy this month.

Your time with them will be limited. You need to maximize your writing output and plan for days with low reads.

Mission Statement as a writer

“Break free from consumption, switch sides, and reorient to the world as a producer.”

MJ DeMarco, author of the Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted

I never mentioned my goal as a writer in any of my articles. My goal is to be a top writer and earn $15,000 a month. This would allow me to avoid working for someone and give me time to help raise my kids and attend their sports and school activities.

Basically, as a writer, you are your own business and need to treat it that way. You need to clock in, put in the work, and continue to make adjustments as needed.

Figure out your routine and try to be as consistent as you can. In a Medium Facebook group today, many writers discussed if writing every day made sense. The debate went back and forth between relatively new writers as well as writers who have made $1,000s a month. There isn’t one right answer since Medium works differently for everyone.

Writing for Medium may get me close to my five-figure number some months but it is possible not to earn that every single month. I don’t own Medium and not in control of their payment system. There could be months when I don’t meet that mark.

Because of that, I look at my investments to help supplement my goal. I invest in stocks, real estate, and cryptocurrencies which some of my articles discuss. If you are not investing, you need to. Writing for a company will not be your savior. You need to have a plan B, C, and D.

You don’t control Medium. You only control your writing. One day, Medium can turn around and cut your earnings in half.

In this article, I’m covering five areas:

• My November stats
• My stats from previous months
• Number of articles published
• Issues I faced
• Looking ahead to December could be horrible unless you do this

My November stats

Now that Thanksgiving is over, my months started off great but then I noticed lower views on my articles. I’m not 100% sure if Medium is playing with the algorithm to give writers less money though I have seen that mentioned by another writer.

For me, I analyze my writing statistics every day and sometimes several times a day. I check in the morning before noon to see if how many readers are active and then again later in the day.

If you ignore your stats, you shouldn’t. Your numbers say a lot when you really sit back and analyze them.

My stats from previous months

“I write because it is the only thing that releases the bats in my head. I started when the noise became louder than the world. Inspiration comes from the need for release.”

Mark Mason

I was on a good pace this summer but then my numbers started to decline month by month after July. I tried new ideas and maybe I just need to get back to the basics.

Once you start writing, you may try new ideas or tips you learned from other writers. Sometimes the best option is to get back to the basics. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the basics and you try to do too much. Stick to what you know and what was working.

Number of articles published

“Publish and be damned.”

Duke of Wellington

Last month, I published 33 articles. The previous month, I published 37 articles. My earnings in the past month was only $97.41 compared to $112.67 the prior month. It was painful looking at my stats but I knew it was coming.

On my part, I published shorter articles. The length of your article says more than you may think. You earn money based on the reading time of paid Medium writers. All of the views do not add up to support your income but it comes down to the reading time.

In November, I published several articles that were short articles. Some days, you don’t have the energy or mindset to write a 600 to 1,000 word article. On those days, I put together several articles that were under 500 words. They were good articles but I didn’t write long articles that were good.

Then I wrote a few articles that were published articles on my own publication, Life is Like a Game. On the plus side, I sent out a few updates to my followers sharing a few tips and insights I have figured out.

Review your past issues

“Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines.”

Robert H. Schuller

We all have issues in life and I don’t make my issues an excuse. Maybe I lost focus part of the month. I let my initial progress in November get the best of me. In the beginning, I was on track to do well halfway through the month and didn’t expect my earnings to drop suddenly.

My kids were on break for Thanksgiving week. Then I had three articles held up by publications for the past two weeks. Also, I took my mom to a doctor’s appointment. Then there was Thanksgiving as well.

Some articles I wrote quick pieces since time was not on my side. I need to plan better when these events come up since I know when they are on my schedule. Take the time to review any issues you have in your life when it comes to writing your best work.

Looking ahead to December could be horrible unless you do this

“An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing.”

Dale Carnegie

These are some tips you should consider as you head into a month with several holidays. The holidays will take away views from your work. If this is the case, this is what you should do.

1. Publish your best work early in the month which can help you get the best month possible. Though some writers may disagree, this has worked for me. If you publish your best work early in the month, this gets more eyes on your work which helps.

2. Put in your best effort in your work. People want to read your work. You need to put in the time to create a good headline, grab the best image(s), edit your work, and then publish.

3. If you have to run out for appointments, draft your article on your phone while at these events. Everything about writing is maximizing the time you have available. You may not get an entire article written but you may get some ideas for your next draft.

Are you ready for December?

Tom Handy is a top writer on Medium, former Quora writer, and father of two kids. He retired from the Army and sits on several non-profit boards. You can find him on Twitter @tomhandy1 and his publication Life is Like a Game.