Why is Fiction Neglected on Medium?

Let’s promote and celebrate creative writing

I love Medium. It is a great platform full of brilliant ideas and thought-provoking content. Many of us are looking for articles that help us get through the daily struggles in this chaotic and strange world. I admit, they come in bloody handy, and I read them often. Yet through all of this, I can’t stop and wonder why there is such little air time given to creative writing.

Why is there not a fertile space on this platform for creative types who want nothing more than to spin you a fictional yarn, leaving you thinking long after the last word has been read?

Maybe it does exist, and I have yet to find it, a secret Poets Society lurking somewhere in the shadows.

My original aim on Medium was to expand my audience and readership, and to a degree, I have done this. However, a part of me feels there is untapped potential for short story writers and poets who try to showcase their work without the reward and readership they fully deserve.

Is there be a way to get a stronger readership on Medium by going against the tried and tested formula?

Fiction, in my eyes, is an art form that is sometimes undervalued. There are writers out there that have the extraordinary gift of creating something out of nothing. Their vision is brought to life with nothing more than a handful of words and a couple of ink drops. Is it time for Medium to do more to elevate and promote this genre over any other?

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

― Michael Scott, The Warlock

Yes, we want the usual articles; we want the self-help manuals and the stories of people’s struggles. I’m not here to swap one medium for another. All of us still crave the funny quips and those embarrassing stories that we deny in public but secretly endorse in private. Yet many of us want more diversity. There isn’t one reader out there who doesn’t secretly crave a story that will free us, if not briefly, from our everyday lives.

“While we read a novel, we are insane — bonkers. We believe in the existence of people who aren’t there, we hear their voices… Sanity returns (in most cases) when the book is closed.”

― Ursula K. Le Guin

They say you should find your niche on Medium and give it all you have to stand out from the crowd. I once felt short story writing on Medium was the perfect way to grow my reputation and boost my modest income on the platform. Now I am not too sure if Medium is the right place for my work.

That doesn’t mean I will give up, but it does mean that I may have to change my strategy. From this point forward, I will do my utmost to connect with writers to boost my platform presence. In a sense, this is part of the reason for this article.

There is a nagging voice in my head that persists every time I publish a piece of Fiction. Is it a waste of time and energy to fight against the current? Should I not let the waves take me to the non-fictional shores?

Maybe some of you reading this will know this feeling all too well.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those entrepreneurial wizards who can conjure up magic, but it is blatantly clear for me to see that Medium is missing a trick here. They already have their target audience in the bag, why not expand and reach out to writers at the other end of the spectrum? Would it not be in Mediums’ best interests to grow and support fictional writers?

There is a fantastic article by Tom Farr, who has been on Medium since 2015. He talks in-depth about why Medium is an excellent place for fictional writers to exhibit their craft. I agree with every word he says but part of me wonders if we should settle for some views and a handful of change. Should we not strive for much more and see if, little by little, we can alter the Medium landscape?

If there are enough of us, I believe Medium will have no choice but to change their algorithms. So I ask for a favour. Do your bit and spare ten minutes per day to fit one fictional piece into your daily routine. This action will not only help support your fellow writers, but it will help boost a genre that has long been neglected.

*If you have any suggestions or feedback, please pop them in the comments section below. I would be fascinated to hear your thoughts. They could go a long way to help grow our little community.

sources: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/on-fiction

Dean Middleburgh is a writer that has had the good fortune to write for P.S. I love you, Invisible Illness, The New North and Storymaker. Please feel free to follow him and read his short stories here: https://medium.com/@deanmiddleburgh