Three Reasons to Write on Medium

There’s more involved than simply the pursuit of money

Why are we here on Medium?

Some are here on Medium only in the aspect of readers. But most of us are here writing. Some occasionally. Some more consistently. Some write once a week. Some write once a day. Some write several times a day.

THE MONEY

There’s lots of talk about how Medium is one of the side hustles. It’s a stream of income for many. For others it’s a cup of coffee, or as Jan Sebastian writes, “it’s pizza money.” Some may be earning a pizza every day, or once a week. I’m more in the pizza once a month camp so far. (If I don’t go too expensive on the pizza LOL)

But money is one of the driving factors that has many writers here on Medium.

But the moola is only one contributing factor to why we spend our time here instead of elsewhere.

THE COMMUNITY

For a good portion of us, the community here on Medium is a stronger force that keeps us logging in and spending time here.

I know for myself, I used to spend about two hours a day, sometimes a little more, on Facebook, or playing a favorite Facebook game — June’s Journey.

I started here on Medium in August 2022.

I haven’t been on June’s Journey since.

Facebook I still pop into now and then. But sometimes I realized it’s been several days since I’ve been there. And when I do sign on, I’m usually there for about five or ten minutes.

And it’s back to Medium I come.

When I started here, I kept reading about the ‘Medium community’. In the six months since, I’ve discovered that there’s truth in that statement. The people here, writing and publishing and visiting other stories, are truly a unique and supportive group.

For myself, these people, my Medium friends, are the ones that keep me showing back up every day for the few pennies we’re earning on our writing.

But there’s one other benefit to coming to Medium to write and publish our articles.

THE THIRD BENEFIT — IMPROVING OUR WRITING

I opened up an email last week from Jerry Jenkins. He’s a prolific author of so many books. So many! He also conducts online writing workshops. I’ve taken several of them and have always learned something more about writing.

This email was promoting another of his free online courses.

He wrote:

Don’t be afraid to begin small.

Take the time to build your craft, hone your skills on smaller projects, before you try to write a book.

Journal. Write a newsletter. Start a blog. Write short stories. Submit articles to ezines, magazines or newspapers.

Take a night school or online course in journalism or creative writing. Attend a writers’ conference.

Just remember:

Dreamers talk about writing. Writers write.

Jerry Jenkins

And this third reason is probably the most important factor of the three of why we should be here writing and spending our time on Medium.

Even our reading can benefit our writing.

I’ve often said this about the local writer’s groups I participate in. Even on the meetings where I’m not bringing my own writing for critique, I still come away learning something.

It may be — Ugh! That’s awful, as I remind myself not to do this myself.

It may be a lot of repeated words in the same 2,000-word piece, reminding me of how often I’m guilty of the same thing.

It may be — Wow! That’s an amazing paragraph. How did she accomplish this? What words did she use? What emotions did she draw on? How did she describe this so vividly?

The same here.

As we read the stories of our writer friends, just in the reading, we are still improving our own writing.

How did they do that?

Look at how they put this together!

What a descriptive story!

How did they infuse this piece with so much humor?

Three good reasons to write on Medium.

And, like Jerry Jenkins said in his email:

Dreamers talk about writing. Writers write.

You can follow my publications here: GOOD VIBES CLUB (Joy and Positivity), WRITER’S ZEN (Writing) or AS THE PAGE TURNS (Fiction)

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