This Is How You Can Make Your Medium Experience Meaningful
I did it and I know it works.
I am on Medium for more than nine months. So far, I have published 163 articles and created two amazing publications — The Masterpiece and The Environment.
At this point, I can say that I witnessed a lot of changes on this platform. For better or worse — Medium is indeed a platform of constant change. The changes in algorithms with Medium’s relational model impacted many writers, and they experienced a significant views drop. Eventually, the earnings went down as well.
Many writers got frustrated and struggled with the thoughts of what to write next and engage readers. Sadly, some of them started focusing more on sex (as sex sells better) and became sex-writer/porn-writer sacrificing their true potential.
But from the very beginning, I was clear about my expectation from Medium. Yes, I wanted to earn a few bucks, but more than that, I wanted to write better articles and connect with the other writers on this platform. Above all, I wanted to make my Medium experience meaningful. And after nine long months, I can say that my Medium experience is meaningful as I deliberately choose what I do here on this platform.
Anyway, In this post, I will tell you how I made my Medium journey meaningful and ignored the chaos. I hope it can help you rethink what you are doing.
Give Yourself Some Medium-Free Time
Medium is highly addictive. I read like all day long when I started writing on Medium — on my way to the office, during breaks, while coming back home, even while eating. I was addicted to reading other’s articles. But later, I found out that this habit is not a healthy one to continue. It’s a never-ending loop, and you can never read all. It also limits your writing and thinking time. At some point, it makes you feel exhausted.
So, I made a schedule for my Medium time. I started to read other’s articles from 7– 10 in the evening. I still do that. That time, I read stories of my favorite writers and visit some top publications that I follow. I also check the submissions, go through them, and give feedback to the writers. And I try to publish my articles between these hours as well. Thus, I keep my other time Medium-free, and it helps me focus on idea generating and writing.
It can be any time for you. But I firmly believe, making a Medium schedule of your own may help you a lot. It can make your Medium experience better because when you set a few specific hours for Medium, you choose wisely what to read and what to avoid. It also enhances your writing productivity.
Say Goodbye to Money and Sex-Related Articles
No matter how viral your Top 10 Unheard Sex Position article is, I am not going to read it. But yes, I will mute you for sure. I am sorry, I am not on Medium to read about sex and how to make money. You can be a millionaire or even a billionaire — but who cares? Your life and choices are yours, and I definitely don’t buy your stuff.
But I love to read about other people’s life experiences and their transformation. I will be interested if you tell me that you live on the bank of a tiny river and love to watch cormorants on the treetops. I will be glued to your writings if you write about your spiritual journey and awakening or what life means to you. I will love to hear your experiences and become a fan of yours.
That said, I don’t read money or sex-related articles. I think to make your Medium experience meaningful — you should do it too. Because what types of articles you read will shape your home page recommendation. So why not read great articles and allow Medium to recommend you more of those amazing stuff. You are definitely not on this platform to satisfy your sex or money appetite.
Explore Different Topics and Experiment With Your Writing Style
Yes, I know it sounds contrary to what other so-called successful writers told you. But don’t you think a writer shouldn’t confine himself/herself to just one particular topic and produce tons of boring articles on that? I believe a writer’s job is to write on different topics and explore new windows. I encourage you to write what you don’t know.
Of course, you may have a favorite subject, but don’t limit your writing possibilities. Explore new topics and play with your writing tone and style. It will fun and exciting if you try a different angle or a different storytelling technique. Don’t bore yourself with all the same voice.
I try to experiment a lot. For example, I experimented with my storytelling voice with the article titled If Medium Were a Medium Writer. Another one is Do Frogs Cross the Roads for Sex? where I tried to narrate the story from a different point. I also experimented with my writing style in the article The School of Nature.
It is crucial to do experiments with your writings now and then. It teaches you the art of storytelling and gives you immense joy. I highly recommend you do that to enhance your writing capability. Because if you stay confined in the same bubble, you will never realize what you are capable of doing.
Don’t Care About Your Social Media Share
Sharing on social media hardly has any impact on your writings. I think it is highly overrated. Yes, you will get some fake claps and no reads. Most of the writers on different social media platforms (especially on Facebook groups) will clap your article without reading.
Being irritated with this, I wrote an article titled Fake Claps’ is All You Get Sharing Your Stories on FB Groups! If you go through the comment section of this article, you will understand what I am talking about.
Anyway, when you share your stories on different writer’s groups on Facebook or other social media platforms, it takes away lots of your time and falls you into a read-for-read or clap-for-clap zone. Now, I only share one article a day once. That’s all. I hardly drop my links under other’s posts or anything.
I believe limiting your social media shares is a good way to save time and put more focus on the main thing — writing. I understand, it looks bad when your article has no claps or fewer claps, but I think it is always better to have 10 genuine claps than having 1000 fake claps. I mean, when you are a serious writer, you shouldn’t care about claps.
Limiting your social media shares is a great practice to make your Medium experience meaningful. I advise you not to focus on social media sharing too much. Instead, write good articles that, after reading those, your readers feel an urge to share them.
Explore the Minds of Others
Well, I think it’s one of the reasons I love to write on this platform. I feel blessed that I found some exceptional writers on this platform who continuously inspire me to write better.
Moreover, I love to interact with fellow writers and know their stories and world view. I always think that fellow writers are my friends who have so much to offer. I read and interact with them. I can say that I made a good friendship with many of them. Felipe Xavier, Karmen Jurela, Daniele Ihns, Morris T, Orianna Nienan, Isaiah McCall are just to name a few. I have also started The Masterpiece Interview series to explore other writers’ life and thoughts.
Before writing on this platform, I used to write on a Bengali blogging platform. I wrote there for almost eight years without a penny. But through blogging interactions, I met so many brilliant writers and well-wishers who later become my real-life friends. No money can buy you such stuff.
The point I am trying to make is — if you want to make your Medium journey meaningful, you must interact with other writers. You can do that by reading their writings and leaving comments. Thus you can initiate a lovely conversation and connect to them on a deeper level.
Give Others What You Want
I learned about the power of reciprocity from Terry Mansfield in the first month of writing on Medium. Now I see writers get upset seeing no views or interaction in their posts. But if you ask them how many comments they leave on others’ writings a day, you will understand the reasons. All writers want others to read their stories — but for some unknown reason, they feel reluctant to read others.
This is always true that if you want something from others, you must start giving it first to them. So, if you want others to read and engage with your writing, you need to read other’s stuff and engage meaningfully first. Mark my words — you will see great results if you do so.
Not just on this platform, the lesson of reciprocity applies in every sphere of life. When you will show your love and care for others, they will surely reciprocate.
So, if you are the one struggling to get traction, start reading other writer’s articles and leave comments. Make it a daily practice and, of course, try to write better stories. People will read your stuff and engage with you meaningfully as well.
Promote Good Writers and Writings
We all need to share our favorite writings and promote the writers who inspire us. Though Medium gets inundated with tons of articles every day, good stories are still hard to find. That’s why I try to share and promote other talented writers’ stories. I do that by writing posts or simply sharing that on Facebook or Twitter.
If you want to know some of the brilliant writers and their writing, you may read this article titled Chosen for Further Reading (April 2021). You can also check out this article, 10 Must-Read Articles to Discover the Beauty of the Natural World, to meet some good writers and their exceptional writings about nature and the environment.
Isn’t it great to become a bit less self-centered? Promoting other writers and their writings can give you that wonderful experience. You will feel more connected to this platform while doing so. It will make your Medium experience meaningful for sure.
Final Thoughts
Making your Medium experience meaningful has almost nothing to do with earning tons of money. But if you do all the things I mentioned above, I think you will feel more connected to the platform and have an amazing experience. And, of course, you will start to earn better.
So, choose what you read wisely and say goodbye to cliche sex or money articles. Try to explore different niches and play with your writing tone. And you must stop overthinking the social media share. Instead, start to connect with other writers through their writings and start giving others what you want from them. Lastly, don’t forget to share your favorite stories.
I wish you a meaningful Medium experience.
Thank you for reading.
If you want to read more of my writings, you may check out the following articles.
- Why I Quit My Job While Others Were Busy Saving Theirs (The Ascent)
- How I Unfollowed My Father and Learned Things Differently (The Ascent)
- If Aristotle Were a Medium Writer (The Masterpiece)
- The School of Nature (The Environment)
You can share your outstanding stories and inspire others. Just click the below image and be a writer for The Masterpiece.
