Reasons Why I Keep Writing On Medium
It’s my personal journey, but I guess some of you can relate to it
Something is missing in the photo above. I choosed it on purpose to show you my background. Today I write on a laptop, without disdaining pen and paper.
All the concepts about technology, www, web tools, A.I., and their use are still a mistery to me. Mostly, I mean. Otherwise you wouldn’t even read my articles on Medium. It took me some effort to get here. Just wanted to say it to you.
The good results I’m realizing on Medium actually have been worth the effort. Slowly and constantly improving my performance on the platform has shown me really interesting lessons that I want to share with you.
I want you to know both my personal and professional reasons for keeping writing on Medium.
Personal reasons
- exercise my memory;
- talk about myself;
- express a lot of repressed/undervalued thinking;
- let emotions find a way into reality through words;
- have a reason to show up;
Professional reasons
- practicing my written English;
- use Medium as a blog;
- help someone else avoid the mistakes I’ve made;
- give encouragement to new writers;
- finding my tribe;
- feel motivated through the reading of other fellow authors;
- strengthen my ability as a writer;
- create a new income stream;
- deepen the knowledge of some topics (lots of great reliable writers here).
Some other platforms are ranking out well among writers.
Many are talking about the recently born Simily or the older LinkedIn with a new appeal.
I’m a traditionalist. Once I find something that I like and also works fine, I keep going on with it.
Obviously, nothing is perfect and everything is perfectable.
Not all changes come to harm
Medium has changed to adapt to a new reality of an increasing community of writers, demanding always more.
In some cases the changes introduced on the platform have affected writers heavily, like the pre-requisite of the 100 followers to get access to the Medium Partnership Program. But the community has answered with great sense of responsibility, giving support to new writers, helping them get visibility, so to reach the desired aim and start earning money.
In my case, I had applied to the Partnership Program long ago, before the rules changed. I wasn’t already a member, wasn’t writing regularly, and had no followers. Writing was going on mostly in my dreams rather than in real published articles. It was July 2021, and I was informed that I had to reach the much coveted goal by the end of december 2021, otherwise I would be out.
That kick in the ass, pardon my language, helped me a lot. It spurred me to take my writing seriously, or at least try to do it. Now I have 197 followers, I write regularly, and I’ve improved in many aspects. I am working on an e-book and a novel. I am thrilled about Medium and my writing activity.
Other changes related to curation have outlined a different approach to distribution. Now the process is rather authomatized and an algorithm seems to dominate the scene. The more constantly you write, the better. If the quality of your articles is good you get pushed forward. The more time your readers interact with your writing, the more you earn.
I think it’s a grow-grow scenario, where the content created by authors is rewarded as the platform gains productive extension of itself. It’s only my no-expert opinion.
To me it’s just fine. I wasn’t here when writers used to become famous and earn a lot of money.
I’m here to learn and grow as a writer, and Medium is offering me a warm environment, and a lot of opportunities. I’ll reveal some other details about my voyage into Medium in the future.
By now, I’m committed to put in the hard work, and see what happens. Meanwhile, I try to stay open to all the good advice I receive from other more expert writers, and I thank them all for their incredible help.
