What I’ve Learned From My Weekly Column For The Writing Cooperative
How a writing obligation can affect your productivity

I’ve been working on Medium for a little over nine months now, and I continue to find it an engaging and exciting platform. My best month made me a little less than $1,000, and I typically do around 25 articles per pay period.
In December 2020, the editors of The Writing Cooperative approached me to do a weekly column. We brainstormed ideas for a while and finally settled on calling the column ‘The Reckless Writer.’ The name is a nod to my travel novel ‘Reckless Traveler.’
I conceived the column to be a place to engage in all things writing-related. To date, I have handled a Writing Cooperative newsletter and published 9 articles in the column. I really enjoy the Writing Cooperative and find both the editors and the readers to be helpful and encouraging.
Benefits
One of the biggest benefits of writing a column is that it means I start every work week knowing an article is scheduled with one of Medium’s largest publications. Work with The Writing Cooperative is always instantly chosen for distribution, so it’s good to have those articles in my back pocket.
Lately, I’m branching out more into author interviews. I’m always curious to hear about the writer’s journey, and I know fully that almost every author has a unique story.
I do my column in coordination with my publication Write and Review. I believe it’s important for authors to help each other out, and it’s truly rewarding to provide visibility for up-and-coming writers.
The columns
It’s fun to have a weekly obligation to contemplate writing. A column develops over time, and I’m excited to see where ‘The Reckless Writer’ will take me.
Here are the articles that have already been published to give you an idea of how this column is evolving.
This one is a sort of introductory column/mission statement. I go into my background and try to explain why pay any attention to anything I have to say.
Sometimes I think it’s important to take a step away from your computer and engage in other creative pursuits.
I’ve observed that many authors approach the submission process with a completely wrong attitude. This article is designed to help focus you to bring about greater success.
It’s not altogether a pleasant experience when an article generates national attention. I know this firsthand.
I’m really proud of the graphic for this one.
This article was born from watching ‘The Gold Rush’ with my kids.
We all have a different writing process, this article details mine.
During the pandemic, I revisited Batman V. Superman. The editorial changes of a director’s cut mirror what happens when you edit your writing.
It’s exciting to finish a manuscript and start looking for suitors.
This link is to the newsletter I wrote. I try to link to the works of other writers I respect.
Don’t hesitate to contact me
If you have questions about writing that you’d like me to take a stab at answering, please reach out. Some of my most successful columns have come in response to reader inquiries.
I’m surprised at how much this column has grown in even the two short months I’ve been writing it. In the future, I hope to leverage the platform and help bring encouragement and visibility to even more writers. Thanks for reading!