My Observations After Writing Over 1300 Medium Essays

Damn. That’s a lotta shit comin’ out of my mouth!

I love to write. I always will write.

It is in my DNA.

I’ve been writing all my life. I’ve filled up a diary since I got my first cute little flowered one with the key attached at age 8. I’ve saved it over 40 years. I wrote in it religiously every night.

I‘ve accumulated over 75 full diaries and journals from age 8 till 57. Here are just a few I lined up one day on the kitchen table .

I started writing seriously online in 2015.

I began with the 500 Words a Day Challenge every morning online. Then I wrote a blog a day for over a year. Then I posted daily stories on Medium to ‘practice’ (this was in the prehistoric days before the Medium paywall!)

My only goal on Medium was to share my ideas and sharpen my writing skills. Oh, and also to heal from some shit in my life. To me writing is a healing practice first and foremost. Probably always will be.

Another reason for my disciplined writing was to become a better more seasoned writer before tackling my daunting memoir. (That survival memoir is a true ‘calling’ from my heart. I wrote 65,000 plus words towards it a few years ago, then put it aside.)

It needed time to simmer.

I then began feverishly writing poetry. I published 5 books, a few poetic memoirs, a limerick book and another light non-fiction book.

I wrote a post back in February called Lessons I’ve learned After Publishing 1100 Essays on Medium. Today I noticed that I am now at over 1300 Medium posts. SHIT DAMN!! So, I thought I’d do another post about my newest revelations and observations after publishing 1300 posts. Here goes.

My Observations After Writing Over 1300 Medium Posts

1. I’ve never spent more than a few minutes picking out or thinking about a headline, title or subtitle. I just go with my first or second gut choice. A few people said it was important to use a Headline Analyzer, yadda yadda — to see how popular a headline should be, but nah. I never do that. It seems a waste of time.
2. I try to export my stories often so I can have them all for upcoming essay books I’m planning to write. (DO THAT if you haven’t already!)
3. I’ve taken only one Medium hiatus, for about a month, to regroup during a severely emotional time in my life. (Lots of deaths in my family and other mental blocks.)
4. I’ve learned to always expect a few downright zonks, duds, bombs, and gutter balls when I publish here. I just shrug it off. Like bowling, I don’t always get a strike or even a spare, but, the gutter balls are all part of this writing game.
5. I’ve stayed true to MYSELF by writing in a disciplined fashion every day and publishing daily. (This is a goal for ME and ME only.)
6. I had the idea to start two publications. I thought they were needed niches on Medium but I am not highly attached to them either way. I know my motives when I started them are the same as now. I don’t get too many submissions to these pubs which seems to work out perfect.
7. Curators might have me on a “do not curate blacklist” for whatever reason, but, I don’t really give a shit. I’m honestly not writing to please ‘them’. Whoever ‘them’ is. Hey, maybe I break too many rules. Maybe I don’t format my stories the correct Medium way, maybe I use some ‘unacceptable’ photos I shouldn’t be (although I attempt to use copyright free photos most of the time). Or, maybe I have a link to my books on the bottom of my stories. Or, maybe they feel my writing isn’t up to snuff for any myriad of reasons but, honestly who the heck cares? I am pleased that I have a place to learn, practice and hone my writing skills for 5 bucks a month! Shit. That’s a DEAL! Plus I have great authentic friends now, who I’ve met on this platform — who I treasure. That shit is invaluable. So it’s all GOOD. ( Btw i noticed my curated pieces haven’t made as much money as my non curated ones sooooo…enough said on that subject.)
8. I’m glad I also have freedom to create here — to write what I want, how I want.
9. Many writers who were here when I first started (and who I became very fond of) have dropped out of sight, disappeared?, gone AWOL, for some reason. I see many many have come and gone through the revolving Medium door. I do miss a few people a lot, (Jenny, Cynthia, Saleem, Iva, Martine, Tina etc.) but, for whatever reason these writers moved on.
10. I observe the interesting metamorphisizng(?) of Medium, almost daily. New pubs added. New Medium rules and tweaks. I observe but I keep my head down focused on my own writing goals. Everything in life changes. Why wouldn’t Medium?
11. I am not highly invested in anything I put out there. My words are NOT my darlings. They aren’t sacred. Actually they aren’t totally ME. I am beyond my words. I am a soul. A spirit. My words just fling out of me the way they want to come out. I allow them to. Unlike many writers, I am not attached to every story I write. If it works, great. If not — eh, so be it. I have a slew of new draft ideas always at the ready, which I immediately pull up after publishing a story. (That has been my strategy. It works well for me. I never get concerned about my past stories, look at claps much or review my stats. EVER. It’s over. It’s old news.)
12. I learn so much about my writing style by trying out ‘different stuff here — from poetry, to longer thought out researched posts to first person personal essays to silly limericks. It’s like when I taught myself guitar or how to sing. I have to ‘practice’ in order to learn. There’s no way around it. To me, it’s ALL a learning experience. Its all valuable. Its a great way to eventually find my writing voice for when I return to my Memoir and other books.

10. I discovered that yea, I’m a rebel. I enjoy doing things different. I’m not a follower. Never have been.

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is one of my favorite quotations. It pretty much sums me up.

I‘ve never been one to follow the herd. I love seeing new angles — new ways of doing things — new ways to create. I’ve never felt fulfilled doing creative things anyone elses’ way. Even if everyone agreed it was ‘the’ way,( for instance in my music and visual art careers), I still went within and asked myself what I felt. That’s how I feel on Medium too. I don’t follow or care about trends.

(I’ve always been a rebel. Looking back on my life and it seems that the only times I’ve had success is when I didn’t follow the crowd.)

I’ve realized my rebel nature is alive and well here on Medium. It is just who I am and it is a strength of mine.

11. I have some wonderful writer friends who I’ve met on Medium who I’m so very grateful for! Thank you thank you for the valuable friendships!

Well, that‘s’ it. My observations after publishing over 1300 Medium posts.

The wonderful news is that I still wake up, pour my coffee, pull up my NEXT draft and begin my day excitedly asking myself, ‘What do I want to say today?”

THANKS FOR READING! contact me at: [email protected]