The Best Way to Learn Medium is to Write for Medium

Blogging for beginners.

“You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.” – Glinda (The Good Witch), The Wizard of Oz

The fastest way to learn how to use Medium is to use Medium, which means, both reading other writer’s stories and writing your own.

Then hit publish.

The quickest way to become an expert is by using the site. You don’t have to be perfect — perfect doesn’t exist — you just have to start.

I put off starting for two whole years. I published one story and then didn’t. I wish I had stuck with it before Medium started to pay its writers. I would be way ahead of the game.

OK. So you signed up for a Medium account and are now part of the Medium Partner Program. You’re ready to post your first story so you can begin, hopefully, to monetize your writing — through engagement and readers.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you; it will take intention and effort — lots of it. With a dose, or ten, of persistence sprinkled in here and there, in addition to late nights and less sleep — and you can find success as a writer on Medium.

There have been rumblings lately on Medium and on Medium Facebook groups about whether or not it is still possible to make even 1,000 a month on this site for new writers. It is. I reached that goal in a little under six months.

Some think it is harder now to stand out here than it was even six months ago. And I think that’s true, but not impossible.

Now saturated with high-quality content from writers who have been writing for Medium consistently, it’s harder to gain traction, but not impossible. Since Medium started paying its members based on time spent reading, my income has increased, and my story length hasn’t.

I still believe it is possible to stand out on this site with good quality content, so you are going to have to start writing, a lot, which means every day, even if every day means twenty minutes on your lunch break. Because quantity — time spent writing — leads to quality.

Write every day and share your work — until you improve.

If you follow this advice with the determination of a mountain goat reaching the highest peak, you will be successful.

I guarantee you will improve with effort. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people; successful people don’t quit. That’s it.

You may hear nothing but crickets at first, or even after posting your first 30 essays, but if you keep actively improving your writing skills by writing every day and sharing consistently, I believe it is still possible to make money here as a new writer.

And it starts with quality content that stands out.

When I say content, on Medium, the ‘content’ consists of three elements that are of equal importance; image (the photo you use at the top of your story), title, and article.

Writing needs to be free of grammatical and spelling errors, but it also needs to be edited for flow and readability.

This takes practice, but with consistent practice, anything is possible.

Mental hacks

Here are three mental hacks for newbies who are just beginning and want to be part of this platform but feel overwhelmed, as I did when I started.

These three mind shifts gave me perspective and got me through the first three months of posting consistently.

There is room for all of us

First of all, there is room for all of us. I firmly believe each of us brings a unique voice to our work, even within the same topics.

Often is the case on Medium that similar topics are parsed and drilled down by different authors with different results — that is because no two people are the same.

Just ponder the beauty of that for a second. No two articles on the same topic by two different writers will be the same.

We all come with our perspective based on different backgrounds and upbringing. Keep your uniqueness in mind. Don’t sell yourself short. Put it all out there. Be honest. And then edit. And then edit some more. Take out the superfluous and make it flow for the reader.

Medium is a great tool to practice the art of writing better — by reading the writers on this site and writing daily — you will become a better writer.

Good writing is rewriting. When I don’t spend a lot of time on the editing process, my content is not as clear and concise as it could be with more edits.

Lousy writing days lead to good writing days.

Don’t obsess over stats — at first

When starting on Medium, don’t obsess over stats. Just write and see what happens. Get a few, or 30, posts under your belt and then start paying more attention to things like stats.

Eventually, your stats will be helpful to measure what content resonates with your readers but get the experience down first.

I ignored my stats for the first couple of months much to the amazement of others in my Blogging for Medium group. But it worked wonders for my psyche and kept me writing.

After 200 plus posts, I still don’t look at my stats. I have a goal of writing consistently for one year without obsessing over stats. I want to see if I can write for an entire year first, with the emphasis on the writing part.

To make an impact when starting, the most essential goal — if you don’t already have a name for yourself outside of Medium — is to write consistently and post consistently.

Check stats once a week, don’t go OCD on them just yet.

If you are constantly checking your stats as a newbie and are seeing no results or barely any views, this may make it easier to throw in the towel, as I did, in 2016. Imagine if I had just kept going three years ago. I’d be well ahead of where I’m starting now. I’d probably have a name for myself had I only stuck it out the last three years.

I’m sticking with it now, so I don’t have the same regret three years from now. I love writing. Why not try to get paid for it.

Don’t compare yourself to others

Don’t compare your start to another person’s middle.

If you are new to Medium and just starting to publish, you will not be where someone else is who began a year ago, right out of the gate.

Compare yourself to where you were a year ago, but don’t compare yourself to other writers, no good can come from this, and it could stop you from moving forward.

You want forward momentum, so anything you can do to motivate yourself to push ahead, do that. Telling yourself, ‘so and so has 15k in claps, and I have only 50’, will not motivate you to continue your Medium journey.

Look at your progress, and not others, as the measure of your success. This is a much healthier mindset and will keep you going and striving for your growth as a writer.

Go forth dear writer, you have the power, keep going.

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Jessica is a writer, an online entrepreneur, and a recovering type-A personality. She lives in Los Angeles with her extrovert daughter, two dogs, and two cats.