I’ve Been Writing Articles Here for More Than Three Years. Here Are The Lessons After More Than 850 Articles
For the newbies and writers who want to be better
It was the September 2020 pandemic, and everyone needed to be locked up at home.
Besides the paranoia of getting the virus, most of us are trying to beat boredom.
I was a desperate millennial exploring side hustles online out of my writing.
And I cannot help but appreciate Medium to make my dream come true; I never knew I could earn a neat pay that could cover some of my necessities, even my small luxuries.
When I went through tenured writers on the platform, I told myself I wanted to be like them.
Build a following, write hundreds of articles, and earn good money.
After writing hundreds of articles and going through my stat board, I would look back and be thankful for what I have achieved in my writing career.
It served as a breakthrough in my writing career. And I even thought guys on the internet who made a living through writing were scams.
Until I experienced breakthroughs simply by starting to write online.
Writing here on Medium helped me.
- I boosted my income, which helped me buy a new Macbook Pro in 2020.
- Get in touch with a community of writers through Zoom calls and exchange ideas with each other.
- Building a client writing portfolio that increases my credibility as a writer.
For almost four years, writing here on this platform gave birth to a lot of opportunities.
- Publish more than 850 articles as of this time on Medium alone.
- Firm up my LinkedIn content to earn the Top 100 LinkedIn Influencers in my native country.
- Sold digital products on Gumroad, Amazon, and Udemy.
- Increased my speaking engagement, covering topics about digital content and marketing.
Despite these little wins and successes, of course, there were a lot of things that happened behind the curtains.
If you want to play for the quick dough, this platform is not for you (or any business will not work for you).
Over the years, I have witnessed bonus and affiliate programs and some clean-up initiatives from Medium.
Many people reacted to their observations on readership and viewership, changing how it is monetized.
Updates and transformations were part of the platform, as were other online gigs with a paywall.
You need to innovate and update yourself to improve and align with your results if you aim for them to be brighter.
It requires much hard work, so you must stay committed to your goal.
Writing isn’t just putting words on paper (or screen); it’s about creating worlds, characters, and articles that captivate, inspire, and sometimes even change lives.
Here’s the thing: being innovative and committed to your writing is critical.
Think about it like this: you’re crafting something that hasn’t existed before.
It’s like being an architect, but instead of buildings, you’re constructing entire universes with nothing but your imagination and a keyboard (or pen, if you’re old school like that!).
Let your creativity run wild! Experiment with different styles, genres, and perspectives.
Trust me, some of the best stories come from those brave enough to break the mold, even if you create haters.
Put in the work, day in and day out.
Writing is a journey; like any journey, it requires dedication and perseverance.
There will be days when the words flow effortlessly and others when you feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall.
But through it all, remember why you started in the first place — because you have a story inside you that’s dying to be told.
It would help if you had a loving community of editors and writers.
I remember getting feedback through personal messages through editors.
There was even one publication to which I submitted articles that never accepted one article from me after ten attempts of trying (after it got decommissioned).
Getting rejected by editors from these publications would hurt your ego and question your capabilities — that is for sure.
But it is up to you on how you will take it later — would you rise or fall?
On the other hand, I am honored to be part of the editorial team of prominent publications, and to be honest, we receive a lot of articles for submission.
On the receiver side, there are rules and quality of work to maintain.
These private messages were intended to guide writers to improve their craft.
No hate, but readers would like to read articles that entertain and inform — it must be in good serving.
And now I understand why editors back then rejected me.
- Forgetting to give credit to the image.
- Wrong spelling: I did not care to check with Grammarly.
- Formats are terrible.
- Some use immoral text or even vulgar words
Instead of creating hate, take criticisms objectively. Review the editors’ work and learn from them by reading the articles.
If you dream of success, you need to work towards your success. Work on it and be humble.
I am sure you will go places.
Immerse in idea-generation hubs.
Where do great writers get their knowledge, skill, and creativity?
I can do this by reading lots of other’s work, including books, on their shelves.
I would not reach more than 850 articles on my own, so you can be influenced by authors by reading their work.
Acknowledge the sources and the writers that inspired you to write specific topics.
“Good artists copy, great artists steal.” is usually associated with Pablo Picasso or Steve Jobs.
While drawing inspiration from others is acceptable, true innovation comes from taking existing ideas and transforming them into something entirely new.
On the other hand, it’s important to note that this doesn’t justify outright plagiarism or unethical behavior, so be careful.
You have nothing to lose. Look at me an old school but eventually made writing online possible to monetize.
What is your excuse?
Stories you may like:
Why Rich People Dress Like Losers | ILLUMINATION (medium.com)
