Summary

Not peaking early on Medium can be advantageous for long-term success as it allows for skill development, resilience, and a richer writing experience.

Abstract

The article suggests that achieving success on Medium too quickly can be detrimental to a writer's long-term growth and sustainability. It draws parallels from screenwriting, opera singing, and the craftsmanship of Thomas Chippendale to illustrate that mastery in any field requires time and dedication. Early success can lead to unpreparedness for future challenges, while gradual development ensures a solid foundation and the ability to consistently produce quality work. The author emphasizes the importance of learning one's craft, being patient, and gaining life experiences to enrich one's writing.

Opinions

Early success on Medium may create unrealistic expectations and a lack of preparedness for future challenges.
Writers who achieve immediate success might struggle to replicate or sustain their initial performance due to a lack of foundational skills and experience.
Learning the craft of writing, much like screenwriting or singing opera, is a process that takes time and cannot be rushed.
Success in writing, as with other crafts, often requires years of practice and making mistakes along the way.
Writers should focus on long-term development and resist the pressure to achieve immediate results, allowing for a more sustainable and fulfilling writing career.
Engaging in diverse life experiences and observing the world is crucial for developing a rich and varied writing style.
Patience and perseverance are key to achieving true success on platforms like Medium.

Three Reasons It’s a Blessing Not to Peak Too Early on Medium

There’s been a plethora of recent stories about how life on Medium is a marathon, not a sprint. Here’s three reasons why…

We’ve all heard about them: those lucky newbies who manage to get 500 followers in their first month or go viral in their first week. And then there are those who commit immediately to posting three stories a day, seven days a week in the hopes of making a living on Medium within the first six months.

For most of us less fortunate beings, we never attain those early dizzy heights. For instance, I have been on Medium for just over a week now and I only have twelve followers. So the green-eyed envy monster rears high in my head.

But think again: are these early peakers really so lucky?

To my mind, they’re potentially making a rod for their own backs and setting up the scenario for their own long-term misfortune.

Here are three reasons why:

A Lesson from Screenwriting

For most, it takes years to learn to be a screenwriter. Exceptionally, a very small lucky few put pen to paper without really knowing what they’re doing and produce a masterpiece.

Lucky them! But the likelihood is that that script will not get sold. It will instead be used as a “calling card.” A producer will admire your lucky script and ask you “What else have you got?” And guess what, the successful Newbie will have nothing.

Moreover, they will have learned so little from their experience of writing their first script they are unlikely to have the technique at their disposal to craft a second that is just as good.

So, the producer, unimpressed at the fact that the Newbie didn’t have a backup script, has to wait six months before they see their next offering. And it’s probably forced and distinctly mediocre.

They will probably pass: An opportunity wasted.

If that Newbie writer had only spent a few years learning their craft, they wouldn’t be in this position.

A lesson from the Opera

For a time, I was a proficient amateur operatic tenor.

My coach used to tell me a story about the fact that her husband (who was a professional baritone) when he was studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London, used to come home and complain there was a tenor there who was eclipsing everyone in terms of brilliance but that he was such a natural singer that he didn’t understand his technique and that one day something would go wrong and he wouldn’t know how to fix it.

And that’s exactly what happened: the brilliant tenor had a stellar career for two years, but eventually, over-sang, developed vocal problems, and was unable to fix them.

He disappeared from public view quickly enough.

You have to take the time to learn your writing technique, and this may take a few years, even on such an intuitive, friendly, amenable platform as Medium. Don’t expect miracles in terms of views, reads, and followers while this is happening. But plug away, persevere, and you will probably get there.

A lesson from Thomas Chippendale

Don’t despair. Writing is a craft, and so to an extent, it can be learned. Nobody crafted a Chippendale with the first turn of the lathe, not even Thomas Chippendale.

You have to learn your craft and do your time, and that means making mistakes and, yes, writing up some turkeys. You will look back at some of the posts you wrote in the early days and cringe.

Don’t despair. Take a deep breath, assess carefully before pressing “PUBLISH” and rewrite if necessary. The whole thing. And if you have to restructure it, restructure it. Show it to a trusted friend before publishing if that makes you feel better.

The bottom line is, that success in writing, as in almost anything, is usually a slow process. It may take years. Decades, even. You may have to write for five years before anyone shows any interest. Ayodeji Awosika, one of Medium’s most successful writers, took many years of trial and error before he saw real traction.

Guess what? How long do you think Thomas Chippendale’s apprenticeship took? Do some research and find out. I don’t know myself for absolute certain (I’m not convinced anyone does), but I’m sure it took longer than it took you to write your first post.

Chippendale (1718–1779) was a journeyman cabinet maker until he was 36, when he was catapulted to success by publishing his famous first catalogue, and was probably intensively trained in woodturning by his father when he was a boy. So that’s arguably an apprenticeship of at least twenty years.

Conclusion

Although I haven’t achieved it yet myself, I have little doubt that success on Medium is eminently possible. But for most of us, it won’t come overnight.

Remove the sprint spokes, don the marathon shoes and stop and smell the roses for a while. After all, and perhaps a fourth lesson in all this, if you are so desperate you spend all day posting, you won’t have any life experience or frame of reference other than the fact of writing itself to write those killer blogs.

Give yourself time to read books and the posts of others, engage in hobbies and past-times other than writing and observe the world around you. I promise you, your writing will be all the richer for it.

Slow up, avoid putting on too much pressure and consigning yourself to exhaustion — and therein discover a key to success.