Will My Stats Fall Apart if I Don’t Publish Every Day?

For my first month on Medium, I published every day. Now I want to commit to a more relaxed routine. What will happen?

Don’t count your owls before they are delivered (JK Rowling)

A Big Problem

Here lies a problem. I made great strides in my first month on Medium publishing every day. I now have more than 20 stories to my name, have made my first pennies on the Partner Program, and have just under 150 followers.

I have also had the delight of watching my name creep up to the top of the search engine rankings for that name.

And all that from a standing start on the 6th April.

For various reasons, I have generally committed to writing for not more than two hours a day. And I have other writing commitments, for instance, my screenwriting which I enjoy just as much as blogging on Medium.

Because of my other writing commitments and my two-hour restriction, I had always intended that I would eventually settle down to a regimen of publishing about four articles per week.

What will happen when I do that? Will my stats come crashing?

Will my followers evaporate?

Will I start getting writer’s block?

The Received Wisdom

The problem is that some of the received wisdom dictates that you should write every day for the first three months on Medium. Dr. Mehmet Yildiz at ILLUMINATION is particularly keen on the notion.

Ayodeji Awosika, whose Blogging Course I am taking, argues however that the publishing “sweet-spot” for beginners-to-intermediates is between 2 to 4 stories each week.

That came as a relief to me.

But who is right?

The first point here is that I really enjoy writing on Medium and am thoroughly enjoying becoming part of the community and building a tribe.

The second point is that I am in it for the long haul and would rather forsake fast growth for long-term consistency. I want to avoid burnout at all costs.

The thing I am most worried about is the “stop-start” effect of publishing just every other day.

You know what it’s like: you miss a day, then you miss two days.

Before you know it you’ve missed a week.

I crawled out of bed this morning in a cold concerned sweat about all this.

Will my writing regimen fall apart?

Will my stats crash?

Will my followers disappear?

Whose advice should I take about publishing frequency?

The road to hell and all that…

The eagle-eyed amongst you will note that my last post before this one was yesterday morning.

Yes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I had intended not to publish today, but I decided to, not because I am particularly worried about my stats, but because I enjoy it.

And that’s the best reason of all.

Nevertheless, I will have to relax into a four-post-a-week regimen if I am to keep my screenwriting up.

There’s a risk inherent in that, and I just hope that Dr. Yildiz isn’t proved right.

Final thoughts

Like the wise old owl, I will observe, and report on what happens next month.

Meanwhile, if anyone has experiences to share about this situation, I’d be fascinated to hear them.