What I Learned From Writing 222 Articles on Medium

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orning, do it by all means. Develop a consistent writing routine every morning. Do not break the chain and make sure you write every day.</li><li>Do not break the chain. Write every day — even if you write for 15 minutes. Change starts in very small increments. You can build positive habits by starting small and giving yourself a lot of opportunities for small experimentation every day.</li></ul><h1 id="44f6">3. In praise of hard work: Keep writing and publishing.</h1><ul><li>Practice, practice, practice. Learn to do things that will help you upgrade and improve your skills in writing, designing exercises, storytelling, blogging, capturing attention, and building your own audience.</li><li>Write lots of articles. Provide yourself a lot more opportunities/chances to thrive. Some of this is purely probability theory — you are just increasing your chances (probabilities) with each post.</li><li>Develop your skills in positioning, marketing, and storytelling on Medium. Try to crack the art of writing titles with value hooks that capture attention.</li><li>Understand what makes your content really interesting and potentially viral. Where are your purple cows? The best of your content will come from your own experiences.</li><li>Put yourself in the shoes of your readers and make your pieces more compelling and useful for them.</li></ul><h1 id="af88">4. In praise of authenticity: Find your own voice.</h1><ul><li>Do not compare yourself to others. This is your journey and yours alone. Compete with only your former self and no one else here on Medium or elsewhere. Are you getting better every day?</li><li>You need to be your authentic self and own it. You have life experiences, interests, desires, curiosities, and perspectives unique only to you. Tap into them.</li><li>Write from your heart. Develop your storytelling skills and your own voice. Discover why you are writing and what it is that you want to share about your life and your experiences. What are the meaningful stories of your life? Make your stories interesting and engaging. Make sure you are adding value to your readers.</li><li>Do not worry about writing about things that have already been written. Repetition is good and teachers have used repetition all the time. People want to learn from your unique perspective.</li><li>People do not read you because you are smart and you know it all. They read you because you are curious and passionate about the topic

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s that you want to explore. Readers want your story, your independent thinking, your unique perspective, your packaging, and your take on the issues. Give them what they want.</li></ul><h1 id="013d">5. In praise of curiosity: Astonish and amaze yourself.</h1><ul><li>Surprise yourself by challenging yourself to write in domains that you are curious about, but do not feel qualified. I did not think that I would be writing articles covering futuristic visions, technologies, and innovations. I did not think I had the confidence or expertise to write on these topics. I surprised myself and my brain through the power of curiosity.</li><li>When you are curious, you become a relentless learning machine. You get excited and want to explore the topics in more depth. As you read more, you get momentum and want to learn even more. Your super-power then becomes sharing your excitement with your readers.</li><li>Rewire your brain to reinvent yourself. Develop a better version of yourself every day. Your brain has amazing capabilities of limitless learning and neuroplasticity. You can change your definition of yourself. You can rewire your brain to learn fast and achieve fascinating things. It all starts with changing your inner conversations with yourself.</li><li>Celebrate your successes, even if they are very small. Your Medium journey improves incrementally — you need to celebrate small achievements and build on them.</li></ul><h1 id="84ef">6. In praise of the journey: Play the long game.</h1><ul><li>This is a marathon and you are playing the long game. If you really want to get lucky in the long term, you need to provide yourself a lot of opportunities for experimentation and failure.</li><li>You will get better eventually, but this is a numbers game. In order to be original, you need to write and produce a lot.</li><li>Remember that you are running a marathon. Do not focus on short term returns or rewards. Focus on the big picture. Focus on your own journey.</li><li>Most people never finish the long term marathon. You will need to hang in there, be persistent, and continue loving what you do.</li><li>Now that I have written 222 posts, I am a different person now. I feel that I am learning, progressing, and innovating. And that is what matters. Keep writing until you reach your own 222 posts.</li></ul><h2 id="feff">Fahri Karakas is the author of the Self-making Studio. You can explore more here.</h2></article></body>

1. In praise of persistence: Hang in there.

Do not expect quick returns, virality, or victories on Medium. Your growth as a writer takes time. Provide yourself a lot of opportunities for failure and experimentation.

The world owes you nothing. You need to earn your place in this jungle — one piece at a time. Bird by bird.

Do not give up. If you are at the early stages of your journey on Medium, it is easy to be discouraged and give up. Hang in there and focus on improving your game and your writing journey.

A nasty voice inside your head will keep telling you that you suck. Do not listen to that voice. Keep working and keep creating.

2. In praise of showing up: Achieve tiny goals every day.

Show up each day even if you do not feel like writing. I do this by setting myself a very tiny writing goal every day. I make my goal so small that it is very easy to accomplish. For example, I will write for a minimum of 15 minutes every day. Or, I will write a minimum of 100 words every day. Starting small will give you the confidence and the momentum you need. Writing is difficult and you need to approach your writing routine with a sense of patience and self-compassion. You need to develop your own system of creativity and productivity that works for you.

Do not wait for inspiration — it is not coming. You first do the work, and inspiration comes in later anyway. If this means you need to eat the frog first thing in the morning, do it by all means. Develop a consistent writing routine every morning. Do not break the chain and make sure you write every day.

Do not break the chain. Write every day — even if you write for 15 minutes. Change starts in very small increments. You can build positive habits by starting small and giving yourself a lot of opportunities for small experimentation every day.

3. In praise of hard work: Keep writing and publishing.

Practice, practice, practice. Learn to do things that will help you upgrade and improve your skills in writing, designing exercises, storytelling, blogging, capturing attention, and building your own audience.

Write lots of articles. Provide yourself a lot more opportunities/chances to thrive. Some of this is purely probability theory — you are just increasing your chances (probabilities) with each post.

Develop your skills in positioning, marketing, and storytelling on Medium. Try to crack the art of writing titles with value hooks that capture attention.

Understand what makes your content really interesting and potentially viral. Where are your purple cows? The best of your content will come from your own experiences.

Put yourself in the shoes of your readers and make your pieces more compelling and useful for them.

4. In praise of authenticity: Find your own voice.

Do not compare yourself to others. This is your journey and yours alone. Compete with only your former self and no one else here on Medium or elsewhere. Are you getting better every day?

You need to be your authentic self and own it. You have life experiences, interests, desires, curiosities, and perspectives unique only to you. Tap into them.

Write from your heart. Develop your storytelling skills and your own voice. Discover why you are writing and what it is that you want to share about your life and your experiences. What are the meaningful stories of your life? Make your stories interesting and engaging. Make sure you are adding value to your readers.

Do not worry about writing about things that have already been written. Repetition is good and teachers have used repetition all the time. People want to learn from your unique perspective.

People do not read you because you are smart and you know it all. They read you because you are curious and passionate about the topics that you want to explore. Readers want your story, your independent thinking, your unique perspective, your packaging, and your take on the issues. Give them what they want.

5. In praise of curiosity: Astonish and amaze yourself.

Surprise yourself by challenging yourself to write in domains that you are curious about, but do not feel qualified. I did not think that I would be writing articles covering futuristic visions, technologies, and innovations. I did not think I had the confidence or expertise to write on these topics. I surprised myself and my brain through the power of curiosity.

When you are curious, you become a relentless learning machine. You get excited and want to explore the topics in more depth. As you read more, you get momentum and want to learn even more. Your super-power then becomes sharing your excitement with your readers.

Rewire your brain to reinvent yourself. Develop a better version of yourself every day. Your brain has amazing capabilities of limitless learning and neuroplasticity. You can change your definition of yourself. You can rewire your brain to learn fast and achieve fascinating things. It all starts with changing your inner conversations with yourself.

Celebrate your successes, even if they are very small. Your Medium journey improves incrementally — you need to celebrate small achievements and build on them.

6. In praise of the journey: Play the long game.

This is a marathon and you are playing the long game. If you really want to get lucky in the long term, you need to provide yourself a lot of opportunities for experimentation and failure.

You will get better eventually, but this is a numbers game. In order to be original, you need to write and produce a lot.

Remember that you are running a marathon. Do not focus on short term returns or rewards. Focus on the big picture. Focus on your own journey.

Most people never finish the long term marathon. You will need to hang in there, be persistent, and continue loving what you do.

Now that I have written 222 posts, I am a different person now. I feel that I am learning, progressing, and innovating. And that is what matters. Keep writing until you reach your own 222 posts.