Writing on Medium

Thoughts On My First Month (Calendar) Writing on Medium

I just finished my first calendar month writing on Medium, and what a month it has been. It has been full of surprises, disappointments, and moments of pride.

I have just finished my first calendar month writing on Medium, which has been a transformative experience. I started writing on the platform after a long break from any form of writing. I would never describe myself as a “writer,” but I did take a few writing-focused classes in college. I wasn’t completely new to putting together coherent sentences that are written with the intent for others to read.

Still, blogging, I believe, is night and day different than writing academically. In an academic format, structuring sentences and paragraphs is a lot more cut and dry. There are conventional standards you stick to and a format that is typically followed. With blogging, you have much more freedom to express yourself how you would like, and the structure is completely up to you. Breaking your writing down into smaller to digest paragraphs and sentences is essential as your reader could be reading your writing on a tiny 3-inch screen and creating too long of a paragraph will quickly have your reader lost in a maze of words.

With blogging, I tend to focus a lot more on using proper spacing and creating plenty of white space on the page. This is something I am still working on as it seems the top writers on Medium have this down to a science and their articles flow like a river running downhill. The top writers seem to perfectly understand what looks visually appealing to a reader and have their format down. The writers that I keep on coming back to not only provide excellent content, but their articles are easy and enjoyable to read. I don’t get lost on the page, as they use a lot of breaks and clever spacing to make it simple to follow.

As I enter my second calendar month of writing, I am excited to continue to work hard on perfecting my craft and hopefully write articles my readers will enjoy. My main goal with every article I write is to provide something of value for my reader to take away. I want to continue to emphasize evaluating my writing and asking myself “Is this something I would enjoy reading?” and “What new information have I learned that I did not know before reading this article?”. If I can answer both of those questions with ease, then I know I am on the right track and my piece has a better chance of being well-received.

On a different note, I am going to quickly talk about what areas I believe went well during my first month and what things surprised me.

I think the number of followers I have been lucky enough to gain went well. I am thankful that I now have over 700 followers, and I hope for this total to grow every day. I am thankful for every one of them; it means the world to me when they take time out of their day to read and comment on something I have written.

I also enjoy receiving the claps as that releases a dopamine hit that keeps me returning for more. I love the community aspect of Medium, and I enjoy receiving feedback or words of encouragement.

From my experience, this social site is different than others because I do not see nearly as many insults and petty arguments. When I browse the comments, I am pleased to see words of encouragement and others sharing their opinions that contribute positively to the article.

One major reason I left sites like Facebook was because it became a forum for people to start meaningless arguments, and there was way too much hate and anger being voiced.

I am proud this community is still able to remain a platform for people to have a voice and peacefully engage with each other. We live in a world with far too much hostility, and it’s encouraging to see that the Medium community has done a good job of limiting that type of atmosphere.

An area that I still need to improve on is surprisingly releasing fewer articles. I am currently transitioning careers, which leaves me with more free time than ever. I don’t like sitting around doing nothing, as I would rather find something productive to do. This leaves me countless hours I can dedicate to writing and feel productive in the process.

It isn’t uncommon for me to release five-plus articles solely for the fact that I spent most of my day writing. I’ve read enough advice from far more accomplished authors that say writing daily is ideal, but I’ve never seen anyone mention writing as much as I have.

I think some of my articles could have used more polishing and editing, and I look forward to working on that part of my writing process. Currently, I just type everything that comes to mind and then do a quick edit in Grammarly to make sure nothing is completely off. I think I could be a better writer if I focus more on crafting effective sentences that may be more powerful than what I first type.

The best writers I read can pack so much power and punch into every sentence they write. They don’t waste words or sentences on anything that doesn’t effectively contribute to their overall piece. They write in a manner that provides the reader with incredible flow and hook me in where I can’t do anything but read their entire article.

I am excited about what October has in store, and I hope you follow me throughout the month as I work harder than ever to write meaningful writing that will provide incredible VALUE for the time invested in reading. I always strive to put my readers as the top priority because, without you, this community would not be possible. Again, thank you for being a loyal reader, and if you believe this article provided value to you, I would love to receive comments or for you to follow me. Also, I would be incredibly grateful if you would give me some claps so I can keep that dopamine rush going.

I am so thankful that I have found a community where I can share my experiences and knowledge. Also, a huge shout-out and thank you to the countless writers I have read who have taught me so much. There are too many names to name because there is an abundance of knowledgeable and informative writers Medium has the pleasure of hosting.

…if you enjoyed this or found it useful in some way, please clap, comment, follow, or share. it means a lot. thank you!

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