This Is My 200th Story on Medium. Here’s Everything I’ve Learned
13 lessons applicable to both writing and life
If I had stuck to my original commitment, this would have been my 314th post. On December 21, 2019, I decided that I would give my writing a chance. I would write one story a day for Medium.
I did it every day, very early in the morning or very late at night if I didn’t have time during the day. It lasted for four months. This was the longest period of my life where I kept a commitment.
After that, I kept publishing regularly, once a day if I could, rarely twice, and sometimes not at all, if I had taken vacations, if I felt burnt out by writing, or if I had decided that a specific piece of writing needed several days of work to be deep enough.
I’m still here, 314 days later, writing my 200th post. That means a lot to me.
I have learned a lot in the process. This has been a global journey, something that has brought a lot of positive outcomes in my life as a whole.
This story is about the 13 lessons I learned during this life-changing process of becoming a committed writer. Lessons that apply to both writing and life. I hope that my little experience can be useful to you.
The Daily Repetition of a Specific Action Is Incredibly Powerful
When I saw that writing every day for Medium brought so many results, I began to believe in the power of daily repetition. So I implemented other little things in my life, like getting physical exercise every day, or reading every night before going to bed.
These little habits have led to major improvements in my life.
When you perform something every day, even if it only lasts five minutes, it creates both structure and momentum. A small action repeated 365 days a year is way more powerful than something big done once a month.
Writing daily on Medium has made me a better writer, a better Anglophone — French being my mother tongue, has brought financial and professional freedom into my life, has helped me untangle my life and my thoughts, and has made me a committed and organized person with a purpose.
Commitment, Consistency, Hard Work, and Focus Pay Off
These are the four main ingredients for success. Only in this way can one claim to achieve one’s goals and see the results of one’s work.
Now, I know that I am capable of accomplishing almost anything. The process can be daunting at times, but I am convinced that with these four ingredients, the results can only appear, even if it takes time.
It’s All About Showing Up Every Day
“80% of success is showing up.” — Woody Allen
Not all my stories are great — far from it. When I look at the 199 stories I’ve written previously, I sometimes wonder what I had in mind. Some of them seem weird, pretentious, or random. But it doesn’t matter. I woke up that day, sat at my desk even though I didn’t always feel like it, and connected with my thoughts. I did something. That’s all that matters.
Woody Allen is right: it’s not about being excellent every time. It’s just about trying again, every day. Just doing your best. It’s bound to work in the end. I challenge you to write 365 bad stories in a row.
It Is Essential to Love the Process
When I was younger, I used to dive headfirst into ambitious projects, requiring a lot of work, just to be able to achieve this or that result. Spoiler alert: it never worked. I always gave up in a few days because all I could see was the result. I hated the process.
It’s almost impossible to maintain something you don’t like to do in the long term. If you want to write to make money, change your ways. It’s not the best way to make money, and it requires total commitment. I write because I can’t not write. I don’t always want to write, but I write anyway. Above all, I love the process. That’s why I stick to it.
One of the best compasses in life is what you want to do day after day. Not what you want to achieve. What you achieve is only a consequence of what you love to do.
Moving Your Body Also Moves Your Brain
Whether I’m stuck with an idea, a title, or a lack of inspiration, things always get better when I get up and move my body. In order, the two best ex-aequo ways to think are running and walking, both alone, in nature.
Moving your body causes your brain to disconnect and work in the background at the same time. You don’t even have to think actively about it. The solution will probably come to you by itself, often after the first 30 to 40 minutes, so be patient.
Asian Lo-Fi Music and Tropical Beats Are My Best Flow Triggers
I can’t write with lyrics in the background. On the other hand, something too slow or sad doesn’t help. I have discovered that Asian lo-fi music and tropical instrumental beats are my best flow triggers. Those to the sound of which I write my best pieces.
Those beats facilitate the flow between my thoughts and my fingers, help me concentrate, and give me motivation and energy. You should try them. The music you write with can have a great influence on your work. Just find what works for you.
What Works Is Rarely What You Would Have Bet On
I’ve seen a lot of Medium writers talk about it. Stories that they gave their hearts to and that they were almost sure would be successful ended up being a total failure, while others, more random, got all the success.
I know that too. It’s both frustrating and good news. Why good news? Because it means that you can continue to write whatever you want. You can’t plan what’s going to work, so you might as well free yourself from expectations and just have fun in the process.
Start Raw
A few years ago, whenever I had big ideas, I would spend so much time planning that I ended up giving up before I even started. Why did I give up? I got discouraged because I couldn’t find ways to start perfectly.
You can’t start perfectly. Instead, start raw. The most important thing is to get the idea out of your head. Do your best and welcome imperfections.
My first Medium articles are (very) bad. I had no idea what I was doing. I had never written in English before. I didn’t know how to structure my thoughts.
Focus on improving over time. The only way to improve is through practice. Experiencing something daily inevitably brings ideas, results, and perspectives. But you need to immerse yourself in it first.
My Two Most Successful Posts Are the Result of a Subtle Mix
Here are my two most successful posts, here on Medium.
They have a common basis, consisting of the following elements:
- A precise and catchy title, with a subtitle that provides just enough additional information to give the reader a general idea of what to expect
- A personal experience
- Reflection on this personal experience
- Proven facts that back up what I say
- A few well-chosen quotes
- A lot of cuts in the editing process, to make it as short as possible without losing information.
It seems to be a fairly reliable, but not infallible, basis for my work. I can’t wait to flesh it out.
Concrete and Specific
In my opinion, these are the two adjectives that characterize a good Medium post. Something concrete, understandable, focused on something specific. When you read it, you must be able to say exactly what you get out of it. Something that is too vague or too random or that looks like the contents of a fortune cookie is less likely to succeed.
A good article should also be embellished with your specificity as a person. No one wants common advice. There’s enough of it on the internet. Specificity is what makes your reader click and stay. It’s what makes your work meaningful.
In addition, good Medium articles tell a story — human beings love stories — and solve a problem of the audience.
First Drafts Are Magical
“On first drafts: It is completely raw, the sort of thing I feel free to do with the door shut — it’s the story undressed, standing up in nothing but its socks and undershorts.” — Stephen King
A first draft is just you telling yourself the story, as Terry Pratchett said. No need — no possibility — to make it perfect or even good right away. Otherwise, it means you censor yourself. Correcting as you go along or trying to write only perfectly chosen and appropriate words and sentences kill your flow state in the bud.
A first draft is just connecting with your thoughts and writing everything that comes. No one is supposed to read it. It’s a messy, naked flow. It’s raw.
It’s about taking out what’s messy in your head and storing it safely on paper — or on the screen.
You’ll have the second and third drafts to edit.
Editing Is Cutting
The second draft consists of rewriting and rearranging sentences and paragraphs so that your message is conveyed as clearly as possible to your reader. I sometimes end up rewriting half of the text. This consists of turning your disordered thoughts into something readable and understandable.
The third draft is mainly about cutting. Cut, cut, cut. Don’t have any qualms about sometimes deleting whole sentences or paragraphs. Anything that does not clearly contribute to the point should disappear.
Don’t say in two sentences what can be said in one. Your reader’s time and attention are precious and scarce resources.
Everything Happens for a Reason
When I look back, many of the important decisions I have made in my life are strongly linked to who I am now: an online published writer, who makes a pretty good living thanks to Medium.
Taking an in-depth English course. Being a bookworm when I was a kid. Choosing literary studies, then going to journalism school. Writing for magazines. Working in the content production industry. Becoming a freelancer. Taking an interest in personal development. And so on.
Trust the process and your intuition. Stay as close as possible to your core values and desires. Listen to your little inner voice. It knows.
Today, Medium pays at least my rent every month. Some months I am even surprised, proud, and grateful for the amount of money that is transferred to my bank account.
Medium allows me to see the content of my thoughts materialize on the screen in real-time. To grow, to understand myself better, and to feel that I am helping others in the process.
Medium allows me to work freely and remotely, combined with my career as a freelance writer.
Today, Medium is part of my daily life, and I love it. I enjoy writing, reading your comments, reading your work, and your thoughts. Medium is a gold mine. Thank you for reading my work. You are the basis of it all.
