Writing Promiscuously

Reasons to write about multiple subjects on Medium

However often I stumble across advice to only write in one niche on Medium, it never resonates with me. I’m sure courting just one topic works well for many people. It increases the odds that more of your audience will enjoy every story. Even so, commitment to one topic is probably not best for all of us — or even most of us.

Instead, I suggest writing promiscuously. When I say this, I’m referring to writing in multiple topics. Choosing one subject — monogamous writing — leaves more opportunity for burnout. On Medium, I suggest having a few topics as steady partners, but you may also want to throw in some casual flings — subjects you just write about occasionally.

Dating just one topic can leaving you feeling drained. For instance, perhaps you choose travel as your niche, and you typically write from your own experiences. You’ve already written about your forays into London, the Bahamas, Paris, and more. You try to think of new article ideas, but you’ve used them up. You’ve been writing daily and then amping it up to try to boost the algorithm. You’ve even written two or more articles some days. The passion for travel dissipates. Even though you and travel writing had a sexy relationship just a few days ago, your whirlwind romance is over.

Although your audience expects more of this topic, you have no clue what to write about. If you and this topic stay together, it might sound trite and devoid of the drive that led you to your relationship in the first place. Just the same, your audience has come to expect you to always write on the same subject. Suddenly switching might cause them to go running. You discover you’ve lost your lover — the traveling topic — and your writing’s no longer sexy.

By writing on multiple topics, you avoid this problem. While you may still sometimes not feel like writing, overall you feel a seductive pull coming from all of your topics. The chemistry stays for at least some of these subjects. If you feel it dissipating for one, you can simply cycle to another of your steady partners — one of those other subjects you write about regularly. Alternatively, you can go for a fling — one of those topics you just write about every now and then or even only once. The excitement persists this way.

Besides increasing your own drive to produce content, writing promiscuously will make your enthusiasm shine through for the people who read your works. When you find your ideas alluring, other people will want to read them. People who may not have even realized they were into these subjects will want to read your articles.

Another reason you may not want a monogamous relationship with a subject is that you learn quite a bit as you write on multiple topics. Your knowledge grows, and you indulge in curiosity. The ability to learn more can make your topics continue to attract you, and new subjects will infatuate you.

All of this information on multiple subjects will also give you the opportunity to impress people you meet. They’ll wonder how you learned so much information. When you tell them that it’s from research for your writing, perhaps they’ll even check out your Medium blog. Those steady partners (your regular topics) and those new subjects you’ve been screwing around with turn out to be very worth your time.

You’ll also grow through being challenged. Your relationships with multiple subjects provide you with the opportunity to improve your writing skills.

By romancing multiple topics, you also gain more confidence. Learning that you can teach yourself to write on more than one subject is a good self-esteem booster and something that’s perfectly fine to take pride in.

As a result, you may find that your multiple topic partners translate into you gaining more willingness to try new activities or learn new skills. After all, you and your topics have already been getting adventurous in your relationships with one another.

At the same time, it’s also great to write about more than one topic on Medium simply because you can. Medium’s a good blogging platform for worrying less about key words. You can just choose your five tags for each article wisely, and then you’re free to let loose and play the topic writing field.

If you’re still worried about your work getting seen less when you partner up with multiple topics, you could submit articles about each of these subjects into different publications on Medium. That way, you can still have your fun and increase the odds of getting new readers. You keep hot and strong relationships between you and your topics that way. Your writing stays stunning as your articles keep you feeling in love with the pursuit of writing.

After submitting to these publications, you may feel more willing to pursue new freelance writing opportunities. Your topics have kept your infatuation going, and you’re aware of your ability to write on multiple subjects. Consequently, you can submit a wider variety of writings and apply to more places than you could if you hadn’t developed those skills.

Writing in more than one niche is fun. It’s a rewarding activity that increases your skills, staves off writer’s burnout, helps you learn, and prepares you to submit articles on assorted subjects to more writing platforms. Unless there’s something very specific you would love to write about for a long time, writing promiscuously on Medium is a great option.