MEDIUM THINGS
What I Learned On My Week’s Break From Writing On Medium
Should I do it more often?
Towards the last week of July, I decided to take a break from writing on Medium. There was just too much going on at that time and I just couldn’t find the time to write, nor was I ever in the mood to write.
So I took a break.
And honestly, it was a much-needed break. I finally got to do some reading on the platform instead of just writing and that helped me to shave off a few articles from my ‘saved for later’ folder.
But aside from that, the break also helped me to realize a few things and perhaps, some of you may need these realizations as well.
We’re all gonna get different results
I think when I first started writing on the MPP, my main objective was to make money from my writing, no matter what the amount was. I was just happy that I would finally be able to monetize my words. Before writing on Medium, the most I’d ever made from my writing was around $5 which was the result of sales from 2 short stories that I self-published on the Payhip platform.
Needless to say, after spending hours on writing and illustrating my short stories, I was disappointed with the sales. So when I made my first $5 on Medium from just ONE article that took me less than an hour to write, I was ecstatic! And when I found out some writers were making 4, even 5-figure incomes on here, I got even more excited, thinking I was going to be able to do the same.
Fast forward a year later, I was only able to break into the $100-a-month club for 5 consecutive months and have been on the decline ever since.
I was so fixated on wanting to make big bucks on here that I forgot just how hard it actually is to get there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s easy to make money on this platform. The moment a paying member reads your article, you’re bound to make something, even if it’s just a cent. But to hit 4 figures on here? Not easy. If those making at least $100 a month are below 6% of the entire writer population, then those making 4 figures would probably be smaller than 1%.
I’m not saying that you can’t get there, you obviously can because there are those already doing it. But chances are, you might not. And that’s OK.
It’s taken me a year but I’ve come to accept that I may not get there at all. I’m not saying that I won’t try at all but I’ll be OK if I don’t. Because honestly, that was never my main reason for writing on this platform. It was to make money but not to the point where I make it my main source of income. If ever it becomes a big contributor to my finances, I’ll be happy but I don’t think I’ll ever treat Medium as my main source of income, unlike some who do.
At the end of the day, we’re all gonna get different results on this platform as writers and that’s fine.
In order to read more, I’ll need to write less
In an ideal world, I’d have the best part of 18 hours a day to do just whatever I want to do when I’m awake. That would consist of working out, playing games, spending time with my wife and kid, writing, and reading as much as I want to.
However, I’m not quite in that ideal world just yet as I do have a full-time 9–5 job which is very important to me right now because it is the main source of income for myself and my family. Before I joined the MPP, I was spending a good few hours a day just reading articles on Medium. But when I became a writer myself, that number went down to less than 30 minutes a day.
Over the break period, I was able to catch up on so many articles that I saved for later, some as far back as one year ago. I was also able to start reading books which I’ve had for some time now but never got around to starting on them. I realized that it’s all about making time, especially if you really want something but I also realized that when your time is somewhat limited, you gotta make some sacrifices. And for me, if I want to be reading more, that means I’ll be writing less.
Not that it’s such a bad thing. I just gotta be more efficient with the time that I do spend writing and reading. I guess if anything, it will help me to utilize my time better.
Competition is seriously fierce
Over the past week, I’ve seen so many old and new writers pushing out content after content after content. Some of my favourite writers were publishing consistently and there were so many new ones doing the same. Running my own publication, I was easily spending at least an hour a day editing and publishing draft submissions to my publication.
It shows that competition for reading time is seriously fierce at the moment. There are just so many writers on this platform that readers are just spoiled for choice. Which is a good thing because then it forces writers to up their game and to ensure that they are constantly pushing out quality content.
You don’t have time to be sloppy or publish crappy content because the moment you do, readers will just find a better writer or content to follow in the blink of an eye and you’ll be forced to play catch-up straight away.
It’s good news for Medium and good news for the millions of paying readers on this platform and it’s also good news for writers who are serious about improving themselves and serving the many reader communities on here that will eventually determine how well they do.
It’s still one of the best platforms to showcase your work
The most successful writers on this platform will probably tell you that they don’t treat Medium as their main source of income. This I’m sure is also true for the one constantly making 5 figures on here. Because they’re so good and their work is in high demand, they probably have multiple avenues where they showcase their work.
But one thing’s for sure, Medium is still one of the best platforms to do that too.
That’s why you’ll see that the big guns are still publishing on here consistently because they know it’s still a very lucrative platform for them and honestly if it continues to be this way, it will continue to stay this way for quite some time to come.
Overall, I can honestly say that my one week’s break was well worth it and very much needed. I definitely needed to get away from all of this for a while so that I could clear my head and truly figure out what I wanted out of this journey of mine on Medium.
Did it hurt my earnings?
Of course, it did.
I’m literally gonna have to play catch-up now if I want to get back to the amount that I’ve been earning since the start of the year. It won’t be easy but this time around, I won’t be beating myself up so much about it.
Will I take more breaks like this in the future? Honestly, I don’t know. But if I do, it will probably be much-needed and well worth it again.
Right now, it’s time to get my head back into the game and start publishing as regularly as I can, without the crazy pressure to do so.