Stop Flexing About How Much Money You Made on Medium

Writing — on Medium or anywhere else — is not a rat race

Being a happy contributor to Medium, I often display wariness for some authors out there who write solely for money.

It’s a nice, pleasant day. You are off to a good start, performing all your morning rituals. You decided to open Medium to read a handful of interesting, shocking, humorous articles. But on your home feed, you see some dirty patches of work.

The title goes like — How I Made $1234 on Medium. At that moment, I occasionally give a second thought to retaining my membership.

I don’t want to know how many dollars rolling in your bank account. But yes, I will be interested when you are ready to share those bucks with me.

What they say

Nowadays, Medium has a plethora of articles on how to make money and grow rich in just a couple of months. Writers who write these articles often claim that it encourages new writers on this platform. Really?

I think it’s just the opposite. It enhances jealousy and self-doubt to newbies thinking about what they must be doing wrong, not earning as much money. They start to doubt their stories and eventually follow the so-called successful writers.

Let me recall some of the common fallacies young writers are falling for:

Write newsworthy articles

Seriously? Are you writing on Medium or Google news? For me, a story full of personal experiences, ideas, thoughts, and solutions is much more worthy instead of bulletin news.

Write 3–5 minutes stories

Okay. So you have cracked the code on Medium? Stories’ length has nothing to do with their success until it adds value to the stories and keeps the readers engaged in it.

Write 7 days a week ( if possible 8 days a week)

Okay, I get it. Write as much as you can. But you cannot indirectly force someone or yourself to publish each day. Writing is a process, not a destination.

Writing is a joy activity — don’t snatch away the joy, forcing writers to publish every day.

Publish your work in large publications

That’s partially true because there are numerous cases where stories published in renowned publications went unnoticed.

A big-publication cannot always guarantee more views and reads.

Small publications are just a waste of time

That’s a lie. I prefer small publications for my work instead of the bigger ones. The editors of the small-publications spend more time on your stories, and you can expect constructive feedback from them.

Followers of small publications engage better than the big ones.

I am here to grow as a writer and to be a part of the community. To me, feedback is more important than views.

Self-publishing is a scam

Stay away from such advice. Sometimes, self-publishing is the only option left for your stories. It doesn’t mean that your writings are awful.

Sometimes your article may not fit the aroma of the publication. In that case, self-publishing can be a great way to connect to readers.

What you should do

If you are a veteran or a newbie in writing, Medium is a perfect place for you to enhance your skills and elevate it to another level.

But reading stories of fishy writers is going to end your career in ashes. You will never be able to grow your writing skills.

That’s the reason why Medium has also turned relational, building up relationships and trust. Some of the things that you should keep in mind to enhance your skills are:-

Write often

Write often, even if it means not publishing. Writing down your thoughts, the activities that happened with you, the high phase, the low ones help you to gather knowledge about yourself, and so on. It will increase your self-awareness.

After a month or two, you will see that your writing style is getting better and better.

Don’t force yourself to publish daily. Writing is a fun activity. Don’t hate it by forcing yourself to perform every day.

Write your own story

Write original, first-hand experience stories. Don’t chase newsworthy articles to earn quick-bucks. If you do so, you are not writing out of love and passion.

Like me, readers always appreciate the stories where the writer is present.

Write stories of any length

Your stories can range from 01 min to any countable number. Just make sure it’s engaging and provides value to the readers.

Spend an enormous amount of time on one story

Quality matters — not quantity. Publish one or two stories a week. But make sure these are the best ones. Don’t fall for publishing each day.

Remember, we are here to enjoy and enhance our writing skills, not to make quick-bucks.

Make sure each article you publish has that charming aroma to make people fall in love with it.

Final Thoughts

Please don’t blindside new writers that they can be a millionaire by writing on Medium. If anyone here wants quick cash, go and start fox trading.

Writing takes patience, hard work, and an enormous level of consistency. It’s a journey larger than life.

Everyone’s life is different. What works for you may or may not work for anyone else. We all need to experiment and take risks with our lives.

All the great things in life take time. So does to be a better writer. Write out of passion and love. Be confident and have an eventful journey ahead!

Thank you for reading. Have a nice day.

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