Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

tch you don’t trip up when scaling down, so a scheduled day off becomes a missed week!</p><h2 id="05a7">Quality as well as quantity</h2><p id="dd9c">The better the quality of your writing the more likely you are to get quality reads. Sometimes it doesn’t matter even if you’re not the best writer in the world as long as your content is interesting. For instance, <a href="undefined">Winston</a> (at Coffee Times) is prone to the odd grammatical error because he (I believe) hails originally from Singapore, but his stories are always interesting.</p><p id="e7f0">If you just splurge out 700 words of crap day after day, then what are you achieving?</p><p id="e85f">Also, ask yourself are you writing with you or your reader in mind. Always visualize your reader and write for them. If you write solely for yourself, no one will be interested in what you say other than yourself.</p><p id="7ee3">Here’s a story I wrote about audience-facing writing:</p><div id="3a15" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/want-killer-stats-then-know-your-audience-d250bd151f3"> <div> <div> <h2>Want Killer Stats…? Then Know Your Audience</h2> <div><h3>If you write for yourself, your stats are doomed. Write for your audience, however, the sky’s the limit.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*_JqG35BA_ruxJcia)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h2 id="1726">Missing a few days doesn’t matter</h2><p id="77d0">On the whole, as long as you don’t make too much of a habit of it, missing a few days here and there isn’t going to make a great deal of difference as long as you have a credible library of stories to fall back on.</p><h2 id="a8b9">Reading and commenting are really important</h2><p id="0158">I am not an algorithm expert, and I have not conducted a scientific assessment of how the Medium algorithm performs, but from reading anecdotal observations on the platform and from my own experience of how things developed when I started reading and commenting, I would say the algorithm definitely favours those who make a practice of it.</p><p id="347e">I try to read and comment on at least five articles a day. Apart from anything else, it keeps me in touch with my clan.</p><p id="8d03">Here’s an article I wrote on that subject:</p><div id="f9c7" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/why-i-adore-my-loyal-tribe-e207c4655904"> <div> <div> <h2>Why I Adore My Loyal Tribe</h2> <div><h3>Big or small, your tribe is a precious joy. Nurture it.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div>

Options

        <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*WeBsgwq_IqvtSGK3)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><h2 id="1a7b">Things definitely improve the longer you stay on the platform</h2><p id="3dc7"><a href="undefined">Ayodeji Awosika</a> and <a href="undefined">Dr Mehmet Yildiz</a> agree that you longer you stay on the platform and the more often you write on it within reason, the better your chances of success will become.</p><p id="bd50">This might seem like a trite observation, but you might be surprised at the number of people who leave the platform after a couple of months when the instantaneous results don’t come in.</p><p id="93ae">It’s a long haul, so buckle in for a long journey.</p><h2 id="5a54">Enjoy the ride and getting to know your tribe well when your following is smaller</h2><p id="0bc8">At the end of the day, at least part of the point of writing on Medium is to enjoy the writing itself. I particularly like it because the style of writing contrasts nicely with my screenwriting, which is more of a long-style.</p><p id="9158">With a Medium story you are in and out like a surgical strike.</p><p id="5bbc">Medium also gives you the opportunity to get to know other writers and learn how they tick. Little did I know when I wrote a story about falling in love with a tree That <a href="undefined">Rodrigo S-C</a>, for instance, might seek me out and school me in the processes of nurturing bonsai.</p><p id="0ab0">Such is the beauty of Medium.</p><h2 id="c270">Takeaway</h2><p id="fee7">These are all valuable lessons.</p><p id="0661">The biggest lesson of all, however, is that succeeding on Medium is a marathon and not a sprint.</p><p id="6d6b">So, it’s important to pace yourself. Most of those of us who commit to publishing three stories a day seven days a week from the off will most likely collapse in an exhausted heap in a month or two.</p><p id="3021">I certainly would.</p><p id="cf30">So, I would leave you with this final thought:</p><p id="789b" type="7">Adopt a long-term mindset and you will probably go far.</p><p id="6837">The open road is before you.</p><p id="c52b">What are you going to do with it?</p><div id="d107" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://medium.com/@robertfporter/membership">
        <div>
          <div>
            <h2>Join Medium with my referral link - robert porter</h2>
            <div><h3>As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story…</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*LgkOXcTjtLCtU4Bc)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div></article></body>

Writing Lessons from Medium Two Months In

Time flies by, but the lessons remain the same

It’s two months to the day since I published my first story on Medium.

Two months in and I have:

· 2,800 views

· 1,700 reads

· 285 followers

· 38 articles

· 5 articles selected for further distribution (this only started happening a week or so ago)

· About $6 in my pocket from the MPP.

So, I may not have conquered the world, but I have made steady progress. I enjoy writing for Medium so much I’ve committed to being in it for the long haul.

So now I sit down with a coffee and my laptop and take stock and ask myself, “What lessons have I learned from the past two months?”

Consistency is key

You must write regularly. Maybe not every day, but at least two to four times each week as Ayodeji Awosika recommends. It’s better for the platform to recognize you as serious, and it’s easier for you because you can settle into a regular writing regime.

The most precarious moment for me over the two months was when I deliberately scaled down from publishing almost every day to three or four times a week. My regimen became disrupted, and I found it harder to write.

I even wrote a story about it:

Why I’ve Just Had My Worst Writing Week on Medium

Sometimes the wheels fall off the writing wagon. But what to do about it?

medium.com

Less is more, but more is definitely easier

This is a lesson you can only learn the hard way. It is potentially easier to write every day, because you adopt an intense rhythm, and you have off days to interrupt the flow.

Every day you miss a day, it’s as if you have to sit down at the desk with a blank piece of paper and start writing from scratch again.

Watch you don’t trip up when scaling down, so a scheduled day off becomes a missed week!

Quality as well as quantity

The better the quality of your writing the more likely you are to get quality reads. Sometimes it doesn’t matter even if you’re not the best writer in the world as long as your content is interesting. For instance, Winston (at Coffee Times) is prone to the odd grammatical error because he (I believe) hails originally from Singapore, but his stories are always interesting.

If you just splurge out 700 words of crap day after day, then what are you achieving?

Also, ask yourself are you writing with you or your reader in mind. Always visualize your reader and write for them. If you write solely for yourself, no one will be interested in what you say other than yourself.

Here’s a story I wrote about audience-facing writing:

Want Killer Stats…? Then Know Your Audience

If you write for yourself, your stats are doomed. Write for your audience, however, the sky’s the limit.

medium.com

Missing a few days doesn’t matter

On the whole, as long as you don’t make too much of a habit of it, missing a few days here and there isn’t going to make a great deal of difference as long as you have a credible library of stories to fall back on.

Reading and commenting are really important

I am not an algorithm expert, and I have not conducted a scientific assessment of how the Medium algorithm performs, but from reading anecdotal observations on the platform and from my own experience of how things developed when I started reading and commenting, I would say the algorithm definitely favours those who make a practice of it.

I try to read and comment on at least five articles a day. Apart from anything else, it keeps me in touch with my clan.

Here’s an article I wrote on that subject:

Why I Adore My Loyal Tribe

Big or small, your tribe is a precious joy. Nurture it.

medium.com

Things definitely improve the longer you stay on the platform

Ayodeji Awosika and Dr Mehmet Yildiz agree that you longer you stay on the platform and the more often you write on it within reason, the better your chances of success will become.

This might seem like a trite observation, but you might be surprised at the number of people who leave the platform after a couple of months when the instantaneous results don’t come in.

It’s a long haul, so buckle in for a long journey.

Enjoy the ride and getting to know your tribe well when your following is smaller

At the end of the day, at least part of the point of writing on Medium is to enjoy the writing itself. I particularly like it because the style of writing contrasts nicely with my screenwriting, which is more of a long-style.

With a Medium story you are in and out like a surgical strike.

Medium also gives you the opportunity to get to know other writers and learn how they tick. Little did I know when I wrote a story about falling in love with a tree That Rodrigo S-C, for instance, might seek me out and school me in the processes of nurturing bonsai.

Such is the beauty of Medium.

Takeaway

These are all valuable lessons.

The biggest lesson of all, however, is that succeeding on Medium is a marathon and not a sprint.

So, it’s important to pace yourself. Most of those of us who commit to publishing three stories a day seven days a week from the off will most likely collapse in an exhausted heap in a month or two.

I certainly would.

So, I would leave you with this final thought:

Adopt a long-term mindset and you will probably go far.

The open road is before you.

What are you going to do with it?

Join Medium with my referral link - robert porter

As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story…

medium.com