My First Year On Medium

Who knew an 80-year-old lady would still be here making bank a year later? But that’s not the best part.

Call me old, call me a hack, call me badass. Call me whatever you want, just don’t call me late for dinner.

Yeah, the trouble with little old lady writers is we have little old jokes. I try to keep them to a minimum, but these days, with no inspiration from the outside world, it’s getting harder and harder to come up with original anything. I know, don’t tell me. You’ve noticed.

Happy Birthday to me.

Yet, a year ago last Monday, when I published my first story on Medium, I never thought I’d be here celebrating three-hundred or so articles, 3k or so fans, and over 3k big ones in earnings. That’s right. I made $2500 between May 11 and the end of 2019, and I’m over that mark already for 2020. Though the lockdown has hit me in my productivity, in case you haven’t noticed, so we’ll see what the end of the year brings. Maybe not so much.

My first story got me noticed.

But I knew it would. I was very strategic about the title. Who could resist an old lady talking about sex, I mean, just the novelty of it. And who knows, maybe I’d have some tricks you hadn’t thought of, right?

But it took me a while to have another one take off. Eventually, I started having some success.

I’ve written about going to the gym. Who knew it would be my best seller.

It’s earned more than $1500. I just dashed it off at the end of a day when I had nothing else to write about. I wanted to keep my streak of a story-a-day going and got it published before the EOD deadline.

I even published a story about my time on a ventilator back before no one knew ventilators would be big news. Here it is again in case you or a loved one has to face them. Hint: It was the easiest part of an open heart surgery.

It’s all about the friends.

Yet, with all the excitement of finding a little patch of the internet to call my own, at least here on Medium, it’s not the numbers that I find most gratifying, and they are, believe me. But it’s the friends I’ve made who have made my Medium experience worth the time and perseverance. People in the Facebook groups, readers, writers, and owners of publications who’ve accepted me into their tribes. I wouldn’t be here without you.

For the past two-plus months, I’ve been holed up in my little one-bedroom apartment doing my best to avoid the virus so I’ll reach another milestone. Eighty-one-years-old doesn’t have the ring of a nicely rounded eighty, but I’ll take it, should I get there come this July 11. And I’m doing everything I can to make it.

That I’m surviving the pandemic and shutdown with my mental health mostly intact is because daily I’m in touch with my Medium friends. They are, you are, the unexpected bonus I’ve received from my writing, which will keep me here whether or not I ever earn another penny.

Even though I’d already published books and articles before Medium, the daily personal essay was new territory for me. I’ve loved exploring this form and giving voice to a new way of expressing myself. That I’ve found readers is a price beyond rubies.

Thank you to everyone who has ever read a word of mine. This first year has been an experiment in proving to myself I could do this. Now that I’ve started, I can’t seem to stop, even though the lockdown has thrown a few roadblocks in my path. My challenge for the coming year is to get better at what I write so I won’t bore you to death.

My niche is clear now.

I didn’t know my niche or my agenda when I started out. But as the year progressed, I found my mission. Write what you know, the old saw goes. What I know is about getting old. It has its ups and downs, I’ll tell you that. But it’s not as bad as people think, or the jokesters like to make you think.

I want you all to believe that yes, little old people can walk across the room and hold a thought in their heads. I’m showing you that I’m not afraid of being old, so you won’t have to when you get here.

Thank you for supporting me in every way that you have. Please know that every old person you see hobbling down the street — or sheltered in a nursing home or their own homes — were once young and vibrant like you. In their hearts and spirits, they still are. They are as worthy as you. If you are one of the youngsters who can’t see the value in being old, don’t wait until you’re one of them, one of us, to realize that.

Speaking of which, stay safe, stay inside, so you live long enough to get where I am. Eighty years and counting.

I’m an editor and writer on Medium with Top Writer status. I’m also an editor for the publication, Rogues Gallery. I’ve published 55 titles on Amazon and edit for private clients. If you’d like to hire me as your editor for fiction, non-fiction, or business writing, please contact me here. If you’d like to read more of my work on Medium, click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ll make sure you don’t miss a word. Thank you for reading.