Writing | Life
Writing More Than a Thousand Articles Changes You!
From an experiment to a life-changing experience
Having published more than 1000 articles on Medium, I have learned much. How does publishing this many pieces affect a writer? Immensely! Read on for my story of learning to write and publish!
From humble beginnings
This article marks the 1106th article I have posted on Medium since February 3, 2020. It is not unusual to do poorly when first learning a refined skill such as writing. Looking back at some of my early work, I see that it was not only written poorly, but some of it was downright embarrassing!
Fortunately, Medium lets you delete earlier work, so I continue completely rewriting some of my earliest postings or deleting them altogether. Reading many of them is a real testament to how much you can improve your writing skills when you keep at it.
Practice may not always make perfect, but it certainly helps! When I started writing on Medium, I had no expectations. I thought writing might be a great way to express many topics covered in the book I had just published, Uncommon Sense.
After using ideas from my book’s content for the first 50 articles, I started writing on leadership topics that have interested me for years. At the time, I had no idea I would still be writing nearly four years later!
Before Medium, I had written only a few articles for magazines, mainly to support commercial products produced by the companies I ran. Writing and publishing on Medium has been an entirely new experience.
Becoming a writer
Early on, I was fortunate to run across an article by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz challenging us to publish daily for a month in his new publication Illumination. At the time, I wondered if I could write 30 pieces of original material after exhausting most of the ideas from my book. It seemed like a daunting task, but I accepted the challenge.
Little did I know the challenge would become a blessing in disguise. I met the challenge and wrote and published articles daily for over two years, with several short breaks since! When will it end? I am not sure, but I still feel like I have plenty to write about.
Being retired, I find writing an excellent way to keep my mind sharp. I have loved reading and learning about leadership, philosophy, health, technology, and other subjects for decades. Since starting, I have added life and inspiration to my initial focus on leadership. However, everything I write contains leadership and personal development elements, likely because of my business background, having run several companies.
Another thing you may notice about my articles is that they often come from a coach’s perspective. Having been a certified professional executive coach for years, how could it be otherwise?
Since I began writing articles, or stories as Medium calls them, I understand why it Is important to many people. Writing is a fantastic way to express yourself, think, learn, and expand your mind. Could anything be more important?
Soon after Dr. Mehmet Yildiz started his first Illumination publication, he asked me to serve as an editor. Accepting this challenge helped me develop in ways I had never considered. The growth of the publication has been phenomenal. I have never seen someone make something as successful so quickly. He is a truly extraordinary man!
As an editor, I read the works of many writers worldwide. Many of them strive to do great work, producing some fantastic writing. Their efforts give me much hope for future generations.
Participating with many others striving to perfect their art and reaping the personal reward of publishing well-written articles is an honor.
How long will I continue to write? Time will tell, but I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. While I now go through spells of writing daily with short breaks for things like vacations, I enjoy it so much that I see no end in sight.
An interesting statistic from my 1100+ articles is that I have penned over 1.25 million words. Considering it took years to write my 50,000-word book, I am surprised I have now written more than the equivalent of 25 books!
If you are a new writer or have not tried it yet, I encourage you to challenge yourself to write daily for a month and watch what happens. Not only will you provide something interesting and helpful or entertaining for others to read, but you can also change who you are and who you are becoming, which is far more crucial than what you do!
I am still surprised my most-read article is about a personal event in my life. I greatly value each of the comments people left. It is the shortest article I have written, with only a two-minute read time. If you care to check it out, click here to read it.
Discovering my legacy
For years, I have sought a way to leave a mark on this earth after I am gone. I initially thought it would involve money and possibly my many journals passed to family members. I now know my true legacy will be my writing, of which Medium is a big part.
My heart’s desire has been to help others grow for years, so I became an executive coach before retiring. I continue to coach in retirement but primarily work with pastors in various churches instead of coaching executives. Being welcomed into their world to serve them as I do is an honor.
In creating my legacy, I hope and often pray that every article I publish will help someone become more and do more with their lives. I have found nothing so satisfying as serving others. I hope reading my work will positively affect people’s lives long after I am gone.
What’s next? My wife, an author who does some fantastic work, has a YouTube channel that is seeing great results. You can check it out at My Mentor Jane. One day, I hope to do something similar, or at least a podcast.
Being retired, I am not writing or coaching for the money but for the lives I hope to affect. One changed life will make it all worth it. While I write a limited number of Christian articles, if one person comes to the Lord because of something I wrote, that will make my entire life worth living.
Closing thoughts
Although I have yet to meet another writer on Medium in person, I have gained some fantastic friends since 2020. Rather than attempt to name them and forget someone, you know who you are. I owe a debt of gratitude to each of you. You have influenced my writing and my desire to become a good writer. I can’t express how much each of you means to me!
I had never thought about becoming a writer when I was younger, but it is a dream come true in this final season of life!
I appreciate everyone who has read or will read my articles on Medium and elsewhere! I also look forward to continuing to read and learn from my fellow writers!
I leave you with a short poem I wrote in the 80s to encourage you to keep at your writing or anything else you do.
Mile by mile can be a trial.
Yard by yard can still be hard.
But inch by inch, anything’s a cinch!
Keep writing, and may it produce much fruit in your life!
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Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION
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