The Secret to Publishing Consistently on Medium
It’s easier to publish consistently on Medium than you think
I want to start off by saying that I don’t think you need to publish every day to be successful on Medium. Sure, there are plenty of writers who are publishing every day for a year or two times a day during weekdays that do alright.
But, there are also a lot of highly successful writers on this platform that are publishing two to three times a week too. They see just as good or better numbers than the guys publishing three times a day.
So, what is the golden rule to publishing on Medium?
I honestly believe it depends on you. Well, sort of. I think that consistency outweighs most things in life. The same goes for writing and publishing on this wonderful platform.
Now, before we go any deeper into this, I want to tell you something. If consistency is the key to success and longevity with anything, then you need to know what will help make you consistent.
After all, if you can’t consistently publish on Medium, then you need to change things up a little bit. The golden rule for publishing on Medium is this:
Publish consistently week to week and you will be fine.
For example, if you can consistently publish one time a week on Medium and write quality articles then you might be good right there. This might be all your life can allow.
And you need to be okay with that or you will feel like a loser here because there are tons of people where writing is all they do and write 15 articles a week.
But, you might be able to increase your publishing schedule, then try it out. If it becomes too difficult, you write crappy articles, or you simply don’t have the time to do it, then back off.
Beware: You are not at the same place as others.
I keep repeating this, but I am going to do it again. Just because some 20-something can write five to fifteen articles a week while they travel the world doesn’t mean you can too.
I have a wife, three kids, a mortgage, and a day job. These are not excuses, they are realities. I am not going to be able to crank out more than five quality articles a week. Heck, sometimes, all my articles in a given week suck.
I am giving you permission to be you.
You don’t have to be Tom Kuegler, or Kristina God, or heaven forbid Tim Denning. Their lives are far different than mine and probably yours. You need to do you. You need to write at a level you can write at. Not that you don’t strive for more, but that you work within your reality.
So, we have set a little groundwork on the fact that writing consistently is very important to any kind of success on Medium (or anywhere else for that matter).
Now, let’s dive into my secret to publishing consistently.
My Secret to Writing Consistently on Medium
Okay, so my secret to writing consistently on Medium has three parts. Each part is essential. The three parts help me create in the most productive manner possible while also creating solid content that you can learn from.
These three parts will make all the difference in your creativity, success, and consistent writing here on Medium. They are special only because they are simple and they can go together.
№1 — Create a Consistent Writing Habit
The key is to writing consistently is to create a habit that you do every day. Once you create that habit of writing every day, you are able to be consistent at writing and publishing at whatever pace you wish to do so.
What has worked best for me and keeps me writing to this day is scheduling my writing time. My time to write always starts at 6 am and then I write until 7 am. This is my set time every day no matter what.
I also write in the same place every day. We have a guest bedroom that we turned into an office for my day job. In this room, however, we have set up a small place for my morning writing. It has a comfortable chair with a side table.
I write from 6 am to 7 am every morning in that spot without fail. Well, aside from my one-year-old waking up early and messing up my habit. The thing about it is that after doing this for months, even if I get thrown off, I still can get back on the wagon without issue.
This is the secret: Set your time and place to write. Do it every day for a month.
You create a habit by doing these three things. That habit will then sustain you through difficult periods of writing or interruptions to your regular schedule.
This is how you create a sustainable writing habit.
№2 — Create an Effective Writing System
Every writer needs to have an effective system for writing if they want to be consistent. The same goes with writing here on Medium. In fact, I use a method I learned ages ago from Jeff Goins. It is called the three-bucket system. It is simple, timeless, and it goes like this:
- Ideas Bucket is where you keep your ideas. I keep a stack of ideas in my Apple Notes. As they come up throughout the day, I quickly enter them in as a new note. I have anywhere from 20 to 50 ideas waiting to become a story at any given time.
- Drafts Bucket is where I start turning my ideas into a piece of writing. In this bucket, I tend to write free thought. The main idea is always at the top of the page, and so I write the draft and add some title options later.
- Edits Bucket is where I start turning drafts into something you read. I read through the writing and look for glaring errors. I re-write anything which isn’t clear. I run the story through Grammarly, double-check how it reads, and then I have a draft ready to publish.
After working through this process, I plug the draft into the Medium editor, format it accordingly, and then get it ready to publish. Normally, I have a few ready-to-publish drafts sitting so that way I can come back and play with each one a little bit before I publish.
This is the system I use to go from idea to published story.
№3 — Have a Publishing Plan for Your Writing
This is again simple, but highly effective. I plan to publish one post a day Monday through Friday. This is the schedule that I can maintain in order to be consistent.
Now, I write in three main niches: Christian faith, Productivity, and Writing. I make sure that I have one to two stories ready every week for each niche. Though I only publish five stories a week, I typically have six ready to go no matter what.
Because I have a consistent writing habit and an effective writing system I can schedule my posts in advance or at least have them ready to publish at a moment's notice.
My plan is written down on an index card of all places.
For each day of the week, I have two potential topics that I could publish a story on Medium. This helps me take away the guessing game on what to publish and helps me stay consistent for the readers of each niche.
Now, you can do this in a Google Calendar or in your paper planner too. But the Index Card is my Holy Grail. It sits on my desk and I review it before I publish anything.
And this is how I plan my publishing on Medium every week.
Bonus: The Length of Your Story Matters
If there is anything that I have learned about publishing five stories a week is that you need to be mindful of your story length. This can help you write more if you write shorter stories, but the long ones are the money makers, so… it’s up to you.
I basically write two types of posts: One to two long posts (6 minutes or more) and three to four short posts (5 minutes or less) each week. I have found that this helps me stay consistent, bring good content, and keep me in the Medium algorithm.
I have also found that it helps me balance earnings and the view to read ratio. Most of all, it keeps me in front of those who want to read my work. Which is essential to me.
So, there are two strategies to help you do this too:
- Write your short posts first (3 to 5 minutes), then combine them into one long article. I did it with this article and it has worked pretty well. Plus it helps cover people who missed the short articles.
- Write a really long post first (7 minutes or more), and then break it up into shorter posts. I have done that with this post and found that the long post had more reads which led to the smaller ones not getting as many reads. But, I have heard of people who have had a lot of success doing this.
Of course, you could shoot for 5-minute posts, or only 500 words, or whatever you wish to do. I find that I rarely write the same posts over and over again, but have different word lengths and different reading times.
This is how I keep reading time in mind when it comes to publishing consistently.
Final Thoughts on Publishing Consistently
Okay, so we have covered the fact that publishing consistently on Medium is hugely important. We also know that you have to figure out what is best for you when it comes to publishing consistently.
I have shared with you my three-part secret to publishing consistently on Medium. It focuses on having a consistent writing habit, a solid and effective writing system, and a publishing plan.
I also shared with you that your story length matters too. What else could I share with you when it comes to publishing consistently on Medium? How about this:
The more consistent you write on Medium, the better chance you have of having a story take off and go viral.
I don’t believe that you can just make an article go viral. So much of it comes down to timing, SEO, and topic. Sure, you can try and make it happen, but some of my most viral articles happened without me doing anything other than publishing.
So, I have given you my secret to writing consistently on Medium along with two lessons learned along the way. Is there anything else missing? Share in the responses below!
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J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who loves helping people grow in their faith, find productivity success, and help writers become authors. You can connect with him on Medium, his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Faithful.
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