Reflections After the End of My First Month on Medium

I failed to meet my writing targets for the better part of the month

The end of October marked my first full month on Medium. It has been a remarkable month for me as I found myself rising above my fears and inhibitions, and pursue my life-long passion for writing. It took a massive amount of courage to write my first piece even though it wasn’t a personal one.

My introversion has always kept me from writing and penning my thoughts and feelings for everyone to read. I remember I started keeping a journal a few years back, but I ended up tearing the pages and throwing them in the garbage. The sole reason was the thought of somebody coming across my journal and knowing what it was like to be me. I’ve always despised being judged. So, it’s a big thing for me to get over this fear of judgment and do what I want to do.

Starting on Medium

Coming back to my first article on Medium, it was a piece on the effects of the pandemic on education and the consequent home/online schooling. When I decided to be a member and write on Medium, I found myself completely blank, and I struggled to think of where to start for days. Panic kicked in, and I began to doubt my abilities. During those days, I was frustrated to see how the pandemic was affecting my children’s education. I wasn’t satisfied with the online classes because it just wasn’t the same.

So I wrote about it and said a little prayer before clicking ‘publish’, and then I waited for a miracle to happen.

I counted one, two, three…….and…….nothing.

There was no miracle, the world didn’t shake, nothing changed. All that excitement slowly faded away, and I was left wondering why isn’t anyone reading what I’ve to say. How will they know a good writer is here if they don’t read — excuse my arrogance; in my defence, I was naive and foolishly optimistic.

Reality check

Reality kicked in and forced me to come out of my pretty bubble where I daydreamed of becoming a successful writer on Medium with viral articles to my name. Sighhh — not today, not now but hopefully, one day.

I realised I was asking for results without putting in the required hard work and effort to achieve my goals. I got over the initial disappointment and gave myself a pep talk. My daughter chipped in too, with her words of wisdom about hard work, motivation and not giving up.

What this first month has taught me

I had initially planned to write at least three to four articles per week, which I failed miserably to achieve. I ended up writing two per week, which was demotivating. I’ve been through a spectrum of emotions; from feeling inspired and enthusiastic to being demoralised and disheartened.

I’ve read tons of articles about ‘how to succeed on Medium’, ‘how to make my first $100’, and the likes. While it has helped to get different views and ideas; I have also felt overwhelmed and overburdened. For instance, most of them talked about writing every day, and to focus on the number of articles being published. I’ve tried to follow this advice, but I couldn’t manage to publish daily. Instead, I feel that the pressure to publish every day got to me and I found myself running out of ideas to write.

I’ve learned to go a little easy on myself. I have a husband and kids to look after, and household chores to do alongside my writing. I tell myself slow progress is better than no progress at all. As long as I keep going, it will add up to producing favourable results.

I also get overwhelmed when I look up to successful writers on Medium. I constantly remind myself that everyone’s journey and circumstances are different, and there can be no comparisons. You can be inspired and learn from the experiences of writers who’ve made it big, but eventually figure out what will work for you. It is very easy to go down the rabbit hole if you’re not careful.

I’ve learned that quality trumps quantity every time, so that is what I intend to do; focus on producing quality content.

Before I started writing, I would’ve never imagined that I’ll be able to write personal stories, but I did that anyway. It feels nice to surprise yourself sometimes; it gives you the confidence that you’re capable of so much more, and you only have to take the first step.

I have a long way to go, and a lot of milestones to reach. I’ve resolved to put in the effort and do the best I can.