My Writing, Reading, and Commenting Policy on Medium

And why I don’t do read for reads.

There are a lot of very smart people on Medium. A lot of them have found great ways to get new reads every day, and quite frankly, I applaud them for their ingenuity and dedication.

As a chronically ill spoonie, I can’t commit to any of that, even if I wanted to.

If you want in on the action, I’m not judging you! Good for you! Anything you want to do, enjoy doing, and are able to do to get ahead is a good thing.

You do you, my little bean. ✨

How I operate about reads

I don’t want to commit to reading articles that might not interest me—that’s not a judgment on the quality of said articles, it’s just that I have a finite number of hours in the day, and I want to spend my Medium reading time with articles that I can fully connect with.

That sometimes means that I don’t have time to read everything I want to.

Some of the articles I read are directly linked to my passions or interests. Some others might be intriguing to me, and about something I want to know more about. I make sure to subscribe by email to a few Medium authors that regularly write about those topics, in order not to miss anything.

Then I have “my tribe”, people I’m enjoying talking with. I will support them and comment on their articles, as long as I can relate to what they’re writing about. I have a great time with them. Some of them come from my online creator community, and others I met here on Medium or over on Twitter.

Why I don’t write in publications

Publications are another great way for authors to find new readers. There are a few that sparked my curiosity, and a few I check out regularly.

But I don’t want to jump through hoops to get an article accepted, and to be totally transparent, I just enjoy writing solo.

I’m pretty happy with my Medium growth, and I’m the proof you can do it on your own. I don’t mind “missing out” by doing things my way. That’s when I’m the happiest, and my journey is more important than my results.

How I get out of that zone and get inspired

I’m not staying in my chosen little community, though. I have multiple ways to add to the list of people I want to follow, or just interact with on a post-per-post basis.

• I follow tags for the topics I’m interested in.
• Medium knows what I like to read and gives me more of that on the homepage—it’s pretty accurate!
• I also check out the articles from people commenting on mine (under the comment, Medium shows their latest posts, and that’s when I might be inspired to click on the ones that might appeal to me).

How I choose to comment

I have a personal comment policy, that is: I won’t feel obliged to comment.

If I have something to add to the conversation, I will gladly leave a comment. If I can encourage someone in a meaningful way, I will.

I will also take the time to personally thank, help, encourage, and answer anyone who interacts with my posts. Because I enjoy getting comments, it brightens my days.

But I will not comment for selfish purposes by writing “I read your post and clapped, please read mine and clap” on other articles. That’s a big no-no for me and something I frown upon when it’s done to me.

And I will not comment just to say “nice article”—at least, not the majority of the time (it can happen). That’s not adding to the conversation, and I can clap instead.

I want to try and add something to the conversation. So I either want to be funny, insightful, informative, or ask a clarifying question. Of course, I can comment the occasional congratulatory cheer, but let’s say that while it might happen, I don’t want it to be a habit.

In everything I do, I want to feel free

I want to feel free to read if I want to, or not. I don’t want to feel obligated to comment. I don’t want to owe anybody anything.

What I am giving, I am giving with no ulterior motive. I am giving it because I am enjoying who you are and what you are writing.

I want my actions to be natural, and true. I don’t want to play the “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” game.

It doesn’t mean I am choosing to be stingy with my actions. I strive to be as generous as possible with the time and energy that I have.

I don’t want to owe anybody anything.

I want to be free to spend my reading time where I feel like it.

I want to be free to comment on the articles that sparked something in me and to answer who I want.

I want to be free to write how I please and when I want.

That, to me, is a requirement to be truly happy.

Hi! My name is Nathalie, and I’m the Octogig 🐙

I write about earning passive income in the neurodivergent, chronically ill, multipotentialite way: by changing your mindset to what benefits you, working few hours, automatizing what drains you, and going with the flow.

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