My 30-Day Community Reading Challenge
I’m trying to make giving back my new normal
I’m opening August with — you guessed it — a new challenge! But not one you’d expect…
After writing about my entire Medium engagement knowledge, I unknowingly gained the $50 bonus for my June writing efforts! Being one of the top 2,000 writers on the platform felt like a huge milestone and being sent that email of recognition from the Medium team filled me with warm fuzzies. I’m kinda confident of about receiving the same bonus for July… but only time will tell!
I can safely say I’ve gotten into my groove on the platform after being here for 8 months:
- I exercise my writing muscles daily — even if I don’t publish.
- I’ve got a good grounding of my niche now I’ve had adequate time to write it all out and see what feels right.
- I’m allowing myself to explore fiction whilst taking part in a summer fiction writing challenge — and could win big $$$ in the process.
- I write for a total of 48 publications — and am even one of the editors for this one!
- I’m growing my own publication, Meld of Minds (closed down as of August 2022).
- I am constantly strengthening both my craft and personal relationships with some terrific writers from all around the world, and dare I say it, making friends!
And here’s where I stop in my tracks... I realise in my plight to become more successful on Medium, I have neglected to regularly read the work of others and engage with the community of people who make up this wholesome platform! Doh!
So this is my attempt at building reading and engagement into my regular — if not daily — routine. I was inspired by Mary DeVries’ proposed reading challenge, so thought I’d make my own take on it.
So, Here’s What I’ll Be Doing Every Day for 30 Days
- Reading (at least) 10 Medium posts (fiction/nonfiction) from my immediate writing community. I have made lists of these people to keep track of, which I keep in spreadsheets. My brain likes spreadsheets.
- Commenting on each of these posts with the intent of starting a genuine conversation, and perpetuating it should the opportunity present itself.
- Respond to comments others have left on my own Medium posts. I can try and get through at least 4 per day, which will allow me to cover all my 109 active Medium posts (and counting) and newsletters.
- Put me out there to Medium writer groups on Facebook and be more active on Twitter— and not share stories within threads to boost MPP earnings. This means popping up to ask/answer questions, reading and engaging with others’ work spontaneously via #writerslift and partaking in other general activities.
- Tweet 3–5 stories I enjoy each day.
*Update: I am easing up on these on weekends. Everyone needs to take breaks!
And Here’s What I Hope to Accomplish for the Month
- To have read and engaged with every comment ever made on my Medium posts!
- To curate a list of my favourite writing of the month to share with everyone!
- To share continual constructive feedback, appreciation and kindness within the community!
The idea behind this isn’t to stats watch, it’s just to be social, have fun and give back!
This may seem very regimented to some, and that’s completely fine. I know this way would work for me in the long run as I have an extremely hard time remembering to fit most responsibilities into the average day without having a regiment to follow. Might be my ADHD… or it might just be Scatterbrain Jane playing her tricks on me for the fun of it… who knows!?
Feel free to adapt this in any way to best suit your own groove, and share it with 30-Day Challenge to let us know you’re taking part too!
Are you a writer looking for your tribe? Love to read? Want full access to Medium? I’ve got you covered.