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We’re more than writers or readers — my own reflection on Medium

Sorry for the long post. This is my attempt at seeing if longer posts fare better during this new low-monetization period.

To The Wonderful People Who Inhabit It! 🍷

During my almost 9 months of being on Medium, my biggest gain has been meeting some great people and the interaction I had with them.

All of that made me a better person and opened my eyes to different perspectives and points of view. There are so many lessons to learn from others, just by interacting with them and being in their online circle.

For me, those people are more than writers or readers, which we all strive to be or often find ourselves being. They are my friends, my peers, and very much my source of inspiration and motivation.

To be quite honest, I was not much of a reader when I joined this platform. I was here to write, not read. In fact, for a while, I perceived coming in here and being a reader as a failure since all I wanted was to write and have people read my texts.

And when I found out I could actually get paid for my texts, I was even more set on writing than ever before. I tried my best to get to a level at which I could earn a few bucks on Medium. So I put in the grind every day, without much success and with very low morale.

That’s how it was until I met some other people who were also trying to write their own stuff the best way they could. Checking them up, I realized they were decent people writing pretty much on the same subjects that I did.

Since on Medium people write a lot of personal stories and opinions about things, that’s a good opportunity to get to know and befriend people right and left. That’s how I reached the conclusion that, more often than not, I like these people more than the stories they write.

Sure, most stories are more than decent; some are exceptionally well written, and there are many good writers in here. But the reason I like the people more than the texts is because they gave birth to those articles, not the other way around.

Medium writers infuse a little bit of their soul in the text they write, and when they’re such amazing people, the end result is great no matter what they write about.

What Do I Like To Read?

Every person who is a genuine writer and writes something readable, no matter the subject, has more chances of teaching you something useful or inspiring you than an AI post.

I, for one, like a personal story more than a well-crafted technical article, a news-like article, or a Wikipedia-like article about frogs (let’s say).

I’m not good at technical stuff, so technical articles are even more boring than AI content for me. If I want to read news-like articles, I can go straight to the source (real news channels and publications). Same with the information about froggies, for example.

So life stories and opinions are what I usually enjoy reading the most. They are usually light and don’t use complicated language. Plus, as you read these stories, they make you feel like you’re getting closer to the author.

This is why I would continue to pay $5 per month. And I think this niche should receive more credit than it actually gets. Even outside a super catchy story on heavy subjects, there are lots of gold nuggets to be found. But that’s just my humble opinion.

What Should We Write?

If we set aside what we actually like, what’s left for us to write about for people to actually be interested in reading our stuff? I often pondered this.

Well, there are the complicated, creative choices: poetry and fiction. I like reading both, and I think I can also wrap something up when it comes to writing.

The best choice would be poetry, especially if it’s rather short. It doesn’t bore the readers, and it appeals to their artistic aspirations. Poetry has a certain novelty to it.

Then fiction can be quite boring if it’s too long and not really that well written. It also depends a lot on the main theme and subject of the fiction. Perhaps flash fiction is better suited for testing the waters. So there’s that.

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room. How entertaining is creative writing when writing non-fiction or an opinion piece? I have seen a few of those posts, and I wasn’t impressed.

Getting too creative in writing when telling a real story about a mundane or overall boring subject sounds so much like AI writing nowadays that it gives me the ick. Anyone else feel like this?

Telling a real-life story should be done in the same tone as you would speak with a friend. Keeping it simple and subjective is all you need. After all, it’s your story.

You don’t go poetic or overly descriptive about the rain, for example, describing the raindrops like you would talk about the resurrection of Atlantis and the second coming of Aquaman.

Something simple, like “The fucking rain wouldn’t stop. By the time I reached some cover, I secured three gallons of rainwater provisions in just my left shoe,” would animate the story more than a creative description.

I don’t know. That’s just my two cents.

Is There No Place for Average Writers?

The best thing about picking up writing is that it doesn’t need any fancy equipment, training, or skill. Anybody and their grandma can take a crack at it and see where it goes as they hone their skills.

Having the opportunity to get paid for writing something of your choice is very tempting. That’s why a lot of people who aren’t particularly good at anything or lack funds for investments will see writing on platforms such as Medium as a potential side hustle.

I know I do, and there are many people who see it like that. Hell, there are people who have it much worse and see online side hustles as their only chance to make some money.

I met someone like that right here on Medium. They’re a person who has to deal with social anxiety, mental health problems, and the trauma resulting from abuse. They can’t work and don’t really have a reliable family to count on, while the disability check barely covers their expenses.

They were told they were slow and good for nothing and often felt like shit for simply existing. At some point, this person even struggled with suicidal thoughts, and god knows if they ever got over it completely.

How do I know all this? Well, I read their posts and tried to be as supportive as I could. And based on our private notes and interactions, I discovered a very resourceful and pleasant person.

There’s nothing to indicate they are slow, less smart, less worthy, or less skilled than me. And most important of all, they never tried to take advantage of me.

You can see someone’s real self if you pay attention to the details. One of those small details is that they are a writer for my publication.

Most of the time, they post some AI-generated articles, but they never send one to my publication because I have a no-AI content policy. The only article they ever sent to my pub was written by themselves.

My guess is that they use AI posts when they don’t feel so well or they’re going through something. And when they are feeling better, often on subjects that they’re passionate about, they post something they wrote with their own hands.

In the last two months, as the Medium payments have risen, I couldn’t help but notice an overall improvement in this person’s state of mind. No doubt, August and, so far, September have been very good for them on Medium.

They got more bold and motivated as a writer, posting more non-AI content, creating their own publication, and trying new things.

The new August changes brought me some good profits, so I was rejoicing too. But more than anything, I was so happy for my online friend. It was great to see that both of our perseverance and hard work on this platform paid off.

Alas, now that there’s a strong chance we’ll revert back to the old monetization policy (or even worse, god knows), I feel so dejected. If even I feel like this, I don’t even want to imagine what a hit this will be for my Medium friend.

Sorry, my friends. I’m not really in the mood for reading anything tonight. If my long hours of reading will only amount to 5 to 10 cents per article from now on, none of us will lose much if I take an evening off from Medium.

I’m eager to check tomorrow’s stats to see if the low earnings persist. Until then, I’ll take my first actual break from Medium (one that wasn’t forced by work or social activity) in my 9 months of Medium.

I’ll watch a movie, read a comic book or something, and come back tomorrow. Hopefully rejuvenated and less dejected than now.