Writing On Medium Is A Team Sport
Who’s Pulling For You?
In every sport, you have trainers, coaches, and other players. You have the fans.
Writing is no different.
I thought about the team sports analogy when I joined a writer’s group. I started writing because of the ‘team’ of people around me.
I’ve been writing for a month now, and this is my second post. It’s been nerve-wracking just to get the first couple out. It’s like playing your first game when you turn pro.
In sports, there are moving parts, and people involved, just like writing. If you write alone, you’ll get somewhere, but it’s the team that helps you win.
Winning at writing can mean making good money, getting recognition, engagement from readers, improving your craft, or just healing through words. Maybe it’s all of those things.
If you have a lot of resistance like me, it’s following through with something important to you. It’s just being able to press publish.
I’ve discovered a community here on Medium, helping me become a writer.
Who has helped you press publish, get paid, or improve your writing?
The Team Mates
For the last four years of employment, I’ve been an Executive Director for non-profit organizations. At the start of the pandemic, they let me go.
Like every leadership position, they threw me into a pit of unwelcomed feedback meetings where I was fed praise sandwiches that left a foul taste in my mouth.
But with time, I learned to appreciate feedback and what I can learn from it. Since deciding to write, I’m not going it alone. I want and need the feedback.
Being surrounded by writers is going to improve your writing if you’re open to it.
A community or a team takes many shapes and forms. It can look very intentional, like the wonderful family of Ninja Writers who has welcomed me. Every week I swallow my pride and read my posts and get the most helpful candid feedback. It’s a humbling and nurturing experience.
There are opportunistic and disgruntled writers on Medium. But I’m a new writer and not exposed to many of them. It feels like a community; like people are rooting for me. Even if it’s just a few.
Every time someone takes the time to comment on a post you’ve written, that’s a teammate helping you out. You need to know how your writing is impacting others.
Become a deep reader; comment with care. When you need feedback, someone may help you out too.
When we write as a team, we develop excellence together.
The Coaches
My husband read my first published post. It was sitting there, naked on Medium. All of 5 views.
He said, “it looks like a Medium post.”
It sounded funny to me at first, but then I realized what he meant.
I didn’t start writing like this. I studied to see how posts read differently from other platforms. Many people are helping me learn the language of Medium. Some I learned from in courses, groups, and others shared through their posts.
Other writers are silently coaching our writing. We may not intend to emulate them, but when we find people we like, we incorporate some of their special sauce or good writing etiquette.
Even our readers are coaching us.
Every week, I learn something new in my writer’s group. In just two months, I’ve become more conscious of sticky sentences, and the word ‘that’. Thank you, Meg Stewart, for bringing it to my attention.
A brief note on coaches: choose them wisely. Don’t listen to everyone.
Many people agree on basic grammar rules, but writing styles are infinite. Read with discernment. Discover what resonates with you, and what turns you off. It’s good to diversify who you learn from so you don’t end up categorically sounding like a tech writer or self-improvement column.
For me, the members of the Ninja Writers community have all become coaches, and I value the diversity of their opinions.
The Inspirers
How many of us started something because someone else inspired us?
Many writers have authors who kindled their love affair with words. In other cases like my own, writing was more accidental. Writing found me.
It’s only since the spring that I started binge-reading on Medium, and I thought,
“I’d like to write, but I don’t know if I can.”
It took three months of reading other peoples’ journeys to convince me I could. I devoured posts about writing, mental health struggles, resistance, procrastination, entrepreneurship, heartache; all the things I could relate to.
It was not one writer that inspired me. It was people coming together, talking about what mattered to them at the moment. It’s the time people took to offer wisdom, encouragement, criticism, and invite reflection.
The stories, vulnerability, and bravery of writers inspired me and I joined them.
The Muse
The word muse comes from the Greek mousai and refers to the goddesses of creativity and the arts.
We don’t wait for her magic, but she’s always there.
Your muse could be God, the Universe, your imagination, your child, nature, or Netflix shows. It can be anything that inspires your writing.
You may not subscribe to the mystical collective energy and the magic of how ideas manifest. You may be a person who needs to see to believe, but just ponder the mystery behind your inspiration and it will marvel you.
The muse is always there.
Yourself
Without you, your writing doesn’t exist. You need to show up, again and again.
You can have every ingredient you need; comprehensive courses, coaches, the best books, and the community cheering you on.
But if you don’t show up, there are no words.
When you show up, thank yourself. You defeated your dark side; your perfectionism and your fear, and you pressed publish.
Be Grateful For Your Team
My husband is an avid UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champion) fan, and even though I’m not, I’ve seen quite a few fights. After every win, that solitary fighter knows they wouldn’t be in the ring without their team. They thank everyone.
Show gratitude to your readers and respond to their comments. Recognize your teachers and the invisible forces at work. Elevate your writing experience through gratitude. You’re not alone.
I’m tired of the farm-to-table and bean-to-cup ads. But the idea is perfect. We should be more conscious. It takes people and energy to make things come alive.
What’s the journey of your words?
Ideas to Words, Pen to Page, Draft to Publish.
Who is Part of Your Team?