Guidance to New Writers
Why Do You Need to Write At Least Three Months to Reap Benefits of Medium?
A mini-interview with Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Chief Editor of Illumination Integrated Publications on Medium providing valuable insights to new writers from his observations and experience
Purpose of the Post
In this post, we share a mini-interview we conducted with Dr Mehmet Yildiz, owner and chief editor of Illumination Integrated Publications on Medium. Our aim is to provide experience-based guidance to our new writers.
Our publications support 24,500+ writers at all levels, from absolute beginners to accomplished ones. Dr. Yildiz has been guiding new writers since the inception of his publications.
He posted an article titled How To Become A Top Writer In Three Months. We asked him why three months matter to new writers. He created several writing challenges and encouraged all writers to participate.
ILLUMINATION:
Dr Yildiz, we know you are busy, but we also know that you are keen to help new writers grow and find their voice on Medium. Our first question is, why do you recommend new writers to write for three months posting at least one article per day?
Dr Mehmet Yildiz:
Thank you for the opportunity. I am glad you asked this question.
Three months is not an arbitrary number. It is based on my experience and the experience of at least 500 writers whom I have mentored since joining Medium. New writers need to post daily for three months to see the actual progress.
I made very little progress in the first three months, but after posting my 100th article, I witnessed a gigantic leap in my stats, including views, reading times, and the number of fans.
When I analyzed the stats of my proteges, I noticed the same level of progress. Their income significantly increased. Those who continued became top writers in multiple categories, and some of them gained thousands of followers.
Unfortunately, those who gave up and started occasionally posting due to their other commitments couldn’t make much progress. Their income was significantly less, and they couldn’t gain new followers.
So consistency is critical to growing on Medium. Some writers write for a few weeks, and when they don’t see progress in their stats, they give up, blaming the platform and accusing readers who don’t care about their content.
It takes time for the algorithm to distribute our stories to our followers and publications followers. Interestingly, some of my stories did not get significant views and reading times. But those articles went viral after a year. So patience is critical on Medium. When we look at it realistically, it is essential to note that there are thousands of writers and millions of stories on Medium. Distribution naturally takes time.
In addition, new members need 100 followers to be part of the Medium Partnership Program. For an absolute beginner, gaining 100 followers requires around three months of consistent publishing long or short-form stories to create visibility.
I hope my points answer your question.
ILLUMINATION:
Yes, they do. Thank you. Can you please comment on the value of writing prompts and challenges?
Dr Mehmet Yildiz:
Writing prompts and challenges are helpful for writers for various reasons. Firstly, they serve as motivational tools. Secondly, prompts and challenges prime the writers to think about a specific topic and or point.
In addition, readers love stories with prompts to gain different perspectives from different writers. Thirdly, they create a collaborative atmosphere among writers who tag, informing each other of their contributions to the prompts.
I created several writing prompts and challenges. I also encouraged our editors and writers to create their own one that we featured in our collections. So far, the most successful writing challenge has been the 100-day challenge that helped hundreds of writers to level up and become top writers.
The short-form challenge was also successful, but only a few writers managed to complete the 1000 stories in 100 days. I even couldn’t do it myself due to my other commitments. Nevertheless, short forms for new writers are valuable.
I know writing 1000 stories is not possible for every writer, but it serves as a goal. When we tick the complete box on our to-do list, our brain releases small dopamine, rewarding us to continue. I believe these compelling reasons might inspire our new writers.
The other two challenges to mention are Share your concerns and aspirations in a story and the Proust Challenge, which questions can be found in my story as I participate in it myself: Couldn’t Resist More; I Finally Took The Plunge. There are many more that I suggest our editors add to our featured collections.
ILLUMINATION:
Thank you for this valuable explanation. Yes, we definitely add them to our collections. Do you have other recommendations for new writers for their growth apart from writing consistently and joining writing prompts and challenges?
Dr Mehmet Yildiz:
Yes, I have a few humble suggestions.
The first point I’d like to highlight is the importance of reading for writers. New writers especially need to read more than they write to learn from experienced writers.
My reading and writing ratio has been 1:20. Even though I am not a new writer on this platform, I read at least twenty articles in a day before writing one as a principle. Many successful writers do the same.
The second important point is meaningful engagement in other writers’ content. What do I mean by meaningful engagement?
One of them is leaving supportive comments on the stories of writers by extending and enhancing their stories with valuable feedback, not promoting them. Giving without expecting is my principle in my writing career. So collaboration is indispensable.
For new writers, quantity is important as much as quality to gain visibility. Some top writers advise focusing on quality only. In my opinion, it is misleading advice. New writers must learn by creating a lot of content to learn from their mistakes. Perfection can cause analysis paralysis, delaying progress. Some people give up due to the intense stress of perfecting their content.
Another critical point is not to compare oneself with others. Each writer is unique. We all have different capabilities. Related to this point, competition is harmful to writers. Collaboration can produce better results. Writers come to Medium to share their stories, not to be criticized by their peers.
I understand if a reader criticizes content if it does not resonate with them. As a reader, I prefer giving constructive feedback. However, I don’t understand a writer criticizing another writer’s content and style. People should mind their own business to keep this platform peaceful. Attacking another writer might create a boomerang effect.
When I see aggressive writers attacking other writers, I remove them from my publications. My publications strive for collaboration and mutual growth peacefully.
Some writers write only to earn income. There is nothing wrong with it. However, in my years of experience in content creation, writing for pleasure is more sustainable. Consequently, writing for pleasure can bring money in the long run.
From a monetary perspective, the best strategy is diversifying content on multiple platforms. We never know what will happen to a platform tomorrow. In addition, having our own platform and mailing list is critical for success.
I also recommend writers join publication activities as each publication has a different audience. In addition, creating their own publication can be invaluable on Medium. We promote the publications of writers.
We see other publications as collaborators, not competitors, as I mentioned in this article in 2020 after reading provocative comments of a pub owner who publicly attempted to penalize writers contributing to Illumination. His dramatic allegations were debunked by others. Collaboration differentiates Illumination Integrated Publications from other prominent publications. Therefore, so many writers contribute to our publications.
Another critical point is writing viral content to earn good money on Medium. Although luck plays a critical role in going viral, it is possible to cause it by following fundamental rules, especially on Medium.
I posted several guiding articles analyzing viral stories in my publication. I’d like to share one reflecting my analysis and experience in 2021 titled What I Learned by Reviewing 100+ Viral Articles in 2021. Most of my guiding articles for new writers can be found on our Starter Kit or Illumination’s Blog.
I hope these quick tips help.
ILLUMINATION:
Thank you for these valuable tips. We appreciate your time and efforts to support our writers and readers. We will pick your brain on other topics soon. Your supportive and inspirational leadership is critical to our success.
We hope you enjoy this mini-interview and gain insights from it.
Dr Yildiz is also a boost-nominator, and we interviewed him recently to obtain his perspectives and guidance for the program. Here is the link to the interview script.
Our special publication, ILLUMINATION-Curated, was selected as a formal boost-nominating pub, so you may check out our updated guidelines aligned with our new quality focus strategy.
ILLUMINATION Videos and Podcasts: Submission Guidelines 2023
Publishing and Conduct Guidelines for the Lampshade of ILLUMINATION
Here is the most appreciated guidance from Dr. Yildiz to increase views and reading times. We loved it and hope you will, too.
How to Write Content Guaranteed to Get Views and Reads
Dr Yildiz wrote many guiding stories for new writers. We believe you will find some helpful ones from this list.
Reference Documents for Publications
Curated Writer Bios
Learn about contributing writers of ILLUMINATION written by their pen
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Selected stories from top writers of ILLUMINATION-Curated
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Meta Collection of Featured Stories
Highlights from Euphoria Publication on Medium by our chief editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz who encourages writers to create their own publications. He posted a new newsletter to his subscribers.
Thanks to Illumination YouTube Coordinator for creating this great video celebrating our second successful year on Medium.
Invitation to New Writers
We would be delighted if you could join us. To join our vibrant publications, please send a request via this link. We will help you gain visibility and succeed as a writer on Medium. Please point out the publication name with your Medium account ID in the request. Readers can read thousands of stories and writers can monetize self-published content. As Dr Mehmet Yildiz says “Opportunities are endless on Medium for writers and readers”.
