If You Are a Writer, Stop Reading Stories About Success on Medium

Summary

The article criticizes the trend of writers on Medium focusing excessively on writing about their success and strategies on the platform, rather than contributing diverse and meaningful content.

Abstract

The author of the article expresses concern over the influx of writers on Medium who predominantly publish stories about achieving success on the platform, particularly since the onset of the pandemic. These writers often repackage common advice as courses and sell them, promising new writers a quick path to fame and fortune. The author argues that writing about writing is not inherently problematic, but the proliferation of such content is creating a misleading narrative that success on Medium can be easily replicated through universal tactics. This trend is seen as detrimental to the true essence of writing, which is a long-term endeavor requiring continuous effort and improvement, rather than a finite game that one can win. The author emphasizes that new writers should focus on honing their craft and cautions against the allure of instant success and monetary gain that is being peddled by some on the platform.

Opinions

Medium's value as a platform for inspiring and educational stories is being undermined by the surge of writers focusing on success stories and writing advice.
The author believes that the platform is being overrun by individuals who call themselves writers but contribute little of substance, instead exploiting the insecurities of new writers.
There is skepticism about the legitimacy of so-called writing experts on Medium, with the author questioning their credentials and the effectiveness of their advice.
The author points out that writing is not a game to be won quickly but a continuous process of improvement and learning.
The promise of earning money on Medium is seen as overshadowing the primary goal of becoming a better writer.
The article suggests that while sharing personal experiences and strategies can be beneficial, presenting them as one-size-fits-all solutions is misleading and harmful.
The author encourages readers to support genuine writers and to be wary of the false hope created by success stories on Medium.

Medium is great.

It allows people to add value to their lives by reading and sharing stories that instill inspiration and allow learning.

At least, that is what happened till before the pandemic started. Ever since Covid-19 welcomed itself into our lives and allowed people to have extra time to think about, many such people who now call themselves writers are swarming here like flies without anything worthwhile to share.

Writing almost exclusively about writing on Medium is not writing.

Words are the strongest weapon a person can wield. However, Medium is slowly becoming a place where new writers are shown false fruits of rapid success.

Writing is a long-term game; to put it better, it is not a finite game where a writer gets to win the game, and the game finishes; instead, it is an infinite game where a writer needs to keep playing (writing) to win the game. I am sure even a writer like Stephen King, with million copies of his books sold, will never say I have won the writing game.

It is one thing to share experiences and strategies that work for a writer, but it is another to bundle them as courses, charge people money for said courses, with promises of making them top writers, earning decent money (what is decent money? Who made a sum decent universally? Where was it discussed?).

Writers who write about writing are not a problem because if somebody has something to share about writing, then definitely go ahead.

But some so-called writers on this platform are tapping into the insecurities of new writers by constantly rejigging their worthless 2 cents about writing on Medium.

This plethora of writers writing about writing on Medium is nothing but useless. I don't understand who declared them experts on this and how do they know so much about it.

They are shooting arrows in the dark because I don't think any of them is affiliated or working with Medium indirectly or directly to know how the platform works behind the scenes.

I understand something worked for them; go ahead share it, be my guest but stop calling yourself writers if this is what you exclusively do. But stop forcing what worked for you as universal tactics to succeed on Medium.

Stop preaching them to other writers, especially the new writers joining this platform, because it's analogous to falling down the rabbit hole once you start consuming that, and you get false hope and expectation of becoming popular as soon as possible.

Every writer's first goal should be to write better or get better at writing, but the promise of money with Medium kind of overshadows that.

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If You Are a Writer, Stop Reading Stories About Success on Medium

Break free from the insecurities instilled in you by the other so-called writers

Medium is great.

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