The One Thing Most New Writers Don’t Understand About Medium

I didn’t realize this truth until today either

I was listening to Zulie Rane interview Sinem Günel on her YouTube channel.

Sinem said something that made me reconsider my entire view of Medium.

Medium isn’t a writing platform. It’s a reading platform.

I think most writers on Medium view it as a writing platform. But Sinem said that recognizing this difference was one of the main keys to her success.

She said this helped her go from writing 150 articles — withing getting very many reads and/or earnings in her first two years — to making four figures.

Actually, she made a lot more. But I want to focus on writing, not money.

Medium is a reading platform

Here’s the proof that Medium is a reading platform, according to Sinem.

According to global rankings, Medium is one of the 350 most visited Websites in the world with over 150 million monthly visitors.

That’s good news to us writers on Medium, but Sinem emphasized that to master the platform we have a better understanding of the playground.

This means we have what it means that Medium is a reading platform.

This truth was surprising to me because I’m a writer, and so I think most everyone else has the same motivation to join Medium as I do to write.

But what if the majority of the people reading your stories are readers?

How does this affect what you write and how you write your stories?

This is what a lot of new writers like myself don’t take the time to consider.

The formula for Medium success

The hardest lesson to learn on Medium is to write for an audience. What this means to me is we have to consider what purpose have in writing a story.

It means keeping the reader in mind from the very beginning of a story.

What kind of information do they want about the topic? What do they know already or do not know about the subject? How can your story add value?

I’ve noticed all the big writers on Medium write for large publications. They write business or self-improvement stories or other topics with many readers.

It seems like they’re grasped a formula: Provide the kind of information that readers want. Insightful helpful information on a niche that's actionable.

Of course, this formula can also apply to smaller publications as well. I had a story rejected today because it didn’t fit what the publication is looking for.

I had the right subject for the publication, but I hadn’t read enough stories — or their guidelines — to know they look for stories with personal experiences.

Give readers what they want

I just scrolled through a list of articles in my feed. I hate to say this, but most seemed like stories that readers would have little or no interest in reading.

The reason is I couldn’t see the value the story would provide a reader. Most of the stories were topics that seemed better suited for a diary or journal.

And I could say the same thing for many of my previous stories. They were written in many cases without thinking about the reader’s needs in mind.

A good story to me addresses something a reader needs or wants. I’m still figuring this out, but I’m going to try to remember this important element.

Most readers are mostly looking for helpful, actionable information. Even if it’s a personal story, I can think about what details will be useful.

And, of course, research to find information that readers will find helpful.

And then cut, trim, delete, and get rid of whatever comes across as filler.

And the real trick of a writer is to try to figure out what a reader wants.

Thanks for reading my story.

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Or check out my YouTube video with actionable tips to write a good title.

Or if you’d simply like to buy me a cup of coffee, I’d greatly appreciate it.