What I’ve Learned From One Year On Medium
It’s been a wild ride, and I’ve learned a lot about writing, popularity, and the nitty gritty of this platform that I want to share.
One year ago today, I published my first ever article on Medium.
I wrote it on a whim and finished it in an afternoon, not thinking much of it, but it ended up being the catalyst for my journey on this site. After doing that first article, and getting a hit of what it felt like to put my thoughts on a page and share them with others, I wanted more.
I wrote another article a few days later, and another, and another, and here I am, one year later, with almost 50 articles written.
It had been a wild ride for me, and I’ve learned a lot about writing, popularity, and this platform. Today, I’m here to share some of the nuggets of wisdom I have learned during my time here.
1. Experimentation is how you avoid burnout
The vast majority of the writing I do is political. My first ever article was about Donald Trump, and for a solid few months after I started, all I wrote about was politics.
I would share my opinions on current events or rebut articles I’d seen from other writers on Medium, and for a while, it was fun. I find politics to be fascinating, and I was able to churn out article after article on the topic, as I had so much I wanted to say.
However, that did grow boring. If you write about any topic for too long, it happens — you just lose interest, and get tired of writing about it so much.
The way I stayed interested was to switch it up, and that’s what I recommend for anyone, not just on Medium, but any writer in general.
Most writers have some central topic they write about, something that they come back to consistently and that most of their fans come to them for. However, almost no writers stick exclusively to that, because it grows tiresome. For me, once I got to March, I got sick of writing about politics, so I changed beats a bit.
I made some articles about music, productivity, writing and such, and threw them in here and there whenever I wanted to switch things up.
This allowed me to keep my motivation strong and avoid burnout, and it’s necessary for anyone trying to write long-term.
2. Curation is a privilege, not a right
One thing you learn about quite early on with Medium is curation. If you select your article to be curated, it is then reviewed by Medium editors, and if they decide it is good enough, they will curate it.
An article being curated can be huge. Your article gets distributed in various topics and can now land on people’s home pages, as well as other news apps who source Medium for their articles.
Curation means your article will get in front of a lot more people that it otherwise would have, as without it, it only gets shown to your followers.
I didn’t know about curation for my first few months on Medium, and that resulted in my articles doing far worse that they could’ve. They weren’t able to get in front of many people at all, meaning I hardly had anyone seeing my writing for a while.
Once I did find out about curation, I saw my views jump up a lot, and I noticed a strange pattern in how Medium chooses who to curate.
For a few months, I saw the curation button as a “free views” button, because every single one of my articles was getting curated, and therefore reaching a fairly large audience. I thought it was either because Medium’s curation guidelines are super soft, or I was just some rockstar writer, but neither of those things are true. As it turns out, I was being curated mainly because I was a new writer.
Since writers won’t stay on Medium if they don’t see moderate success starting out, Medium seems to give free curation to them. If you check any new writer’s page, you’ll see nearly every single one of their articles is curated, even if the quality of their writing is subpar.
For me, after a few months of getting free curation, I started expecting it every time I published. Then, in July, I stopped getting it. I still got curated occasionally, but it went from every time to 40% of the time, and I learned to value curation more.
For any new writers reading, I would advise getting as many articles curated as possible, as it’s easy early on, but also not getting too used to it. At some point, you will be cut off, and then it’s up to you to build your reader base without Medium’s help.
3. Be okay with being unproductive
If you look at my profile, you will find that I’m an absolute master at inconsistency. The rate of my articles is quite slow, at best once a week, and there will be periods of weeks or even months without any articles.
There’s this idea in writing circles that “real writers” sit down and write every single day, and are always being productive, but for me, that simply isn’t true.
Writing is a hobby for me, as it is for most people, and that means that I’m not obligated to do it. I write because it’s fun, because I like the release of sharing my opinions with others, but it stops there. If writing ceases to be fun, then I don’t do it.
The writers who think that you need to write every day to be a true writer are just plain wrong — to be a writer, all you have to do is write.
My writing schedule is incredibly inconsistent, and I will write whenever I’m in the headspace. If I go long enough without writing, there will be a nagging voice that creeps up in my head, telling me that I’m being unproductive and I should get something done, and that will compel me to do work. However, if I’m just not feeling it, then I won’t write.
That’s my advice to most people if you want to maintain motivation: don’t feel like you have to work, because you don’t. Write when you’re in the right place.
That doesn’t mean you should just sit around and wait for motivation — be proactive and find things to write about, and you don’t need to be in the perfect mood to write. But if it feels wrong, then stop and take the day off.
Find a rhythm that works for you, no matter how fast or slow, and stick to it. Let the currents of your motivation and mood be your guide, and it will help you to always be ready to write, and produce your best effort.
4. Know when to scrap an article
There are just those times when an article isn’t working for you.
Maybe there’s something wrong with an argument you’re making. Maybe the topic isn’t relevant anymore. Maybe the article is just plain boring.
Whatever it is, there are times when, even though you have a good idea, the article just can’t be written, and a big part of writing is knowing when to call it quits.
That doesn’t mean to scrap every article that you run into trouble with. During the research of many articles, I’ve run into concepts that took a long time for me to get my head around, or things that just plain didn’t make sense, that I eventually puzzled out.
Or, with some articles, the drafts were incredibly messy and lacked clarity, and while it felt like they were beyond fixing, I was eventually able reorganize them and turn them into something competent.
Pushing through that is also important, but make sure you can distinguish the two, as nothing is more frustrating than spending hours on an article only to eventually realize that it’s a dud.
5. Find a workable editing process
When I first started writing, my editing process was basically nonexistent. I would draft an article, sit on it for a few hours, then proofread it and put it up. That was it.
The result is that I would miss a lot of glaring mistakes in my articles, both small things like typos and larger problems with their overall premises, because I wasn’t taking enough time to look them over.
When you write, you need some kind of process to review and catch those mistakes, and it should be one that gives you a few days with each article before posting. I can always tell when an article was posted hours after drafting, because its quality is always far lower than the ones that were given proper review.
While everyone’s editing process is different and should be what works for them, personally I use the following one:
- Outline — this is optional, and I only do it for long articles or ones that are really research heavy
- Draft — I try to do this in one sitting, and do it uncritically, just getting my ideas on the page
- Notes — I wait a day, then I read over the draft and take notes on any mistakes I see, with a focus on overarching mistakes in terms of arguments, statistics and the tone of the article
- Edit — I use the notes I took and make changes to the article
- Final readthrough — I wait another day, then I read over the edited article, and make final tweaks; it’s here that I focus on spelling, grammar and other small details
While this process certainly hasn’t been perfect, and I don’t use it on every article, it’s what I use most of the time, and it works. I found this through a good bit of tinkering and experimentation, and every writer should do their own testing to find some editing process that they like and works for improving articles.
6. READ!!!
Pretty much every writer is in agreement on this: if you want to be a writer, you have to read a lot.
Reading is not only fun, but it’s also how you internalize parts of other people’s writing styles. You can take what you read and transfer it to your own writing, using those influences to help you improve.
There’s no hard-and-fast rule on how much you should read, you should just do it. Read both in your genre and outside of it, both fiction and nonfiction, and on and off Medium, as it helps to expand your horizons and understand all kinds of writing.
Reading outside of your genre is especially helpful, as you could pick up on elements only present in other types of writing and decide that they would be helpful in your articles, which you could use to differentiate yourself. For instance, if you’re an environmental writer who happens to read poetry, you could end up incorporating poetic language and literary devices found in poetry into your writing at some point.
7. Write for publications
This one’s pretty straightforward. Publications are how most readers get their content, as they know that a publication is going to feature the type of writing they want to read.
Without publications, you have to rely solely on your own influence to get you readers, which, especially at the beginning, isn’t going to be much. Writing for publications allows you to make connections, and it gets your writing in front of far more viewers than it would otherwise see.
There are publications in every genre who are desperate for writers, so whatever you’re doing, you’ll be able to find somewhere to publish your stuff, and it will help you find more readers.
Most publications are open to submission, and I would advise going to whatever publications you currently read and figuring out what their policy is with contributions. You can start with a couple articles for them, and if you like it, become a consistent writer. Having a dedicated place to publish your writing is very helpful.
I also want to add that you should try and avoid large publications. While large publications do have a good-sized audience you would want to get your writing in front of, in my experience they can be a pain to work with.
They tend to be slow with processing submissions, and they often publish large amounts of articles every day, meaning any article you publish with them will likely get lost in the shuffle.
I have published a couple articles with large publications before, and my experience has never been very good, so I would recommend sticking to medium and small sized publications when you can.
8. Find some way to organize yourself
Writing can be messy — no one’s surprised by that. I’m always working on multiple projects at the same time, and while it keeps me busy and interested, it’s hard to manage.
It’s a lot to juggle all those writing projects in your mind, and every new writer on Medium should find some system they can use to keep track of their ideas and what they’re working on so nothing gets forgotten.
Personally, I have a continuous Google Doc where I write all of the ideas that I get, and I go to it whenever I need an idea for an article and I don’t have anything on hand. For research, I have a binder where I take my notes, and that same binder is also where I keep notes for edits on my articles.
I also have a notepad that I use to organize all of my projects. I’ll write the title of each article I’m doing, as well as what stage of the writing process I’m in with it, and that helps me keep everything straight.
This has worked for me, and while it isn’t ideal for everyone, you should find something that you can use to organize yourself, or you’ll find yourself getting overwhelmed by everything you’re working on.
9. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind
I’ve seen writers, especially in politics, who are very cautious about what they write. There are some topics they’re unwilling to tackle, or some opinions they don’t want to share, as they’re afraid it will stir up controversy or offend people.
In my opinion, you shouldn’t be afraid of that. I came to Medium to share my ideas, and for me, the last thing I want to do is get held back because I think some topic is too hot for me to talk about it.
Writers should be willing to speak their minds, as, for the most part, Medium is a free and open marketplace of ideas. Unlike YouTube or other social platforms, Medium doesn’t engage in censorship much, so this is the place where you can say just about anything you want.
Don’t be an idiot or aim to be offensive, but if there’s something you want to say, then you should say it, regardless of how controversial you think it will be. We deserve to hear what you have to say, and in my experience, controversy isn’t such a bad thing. Some of my most successful articles were ones that offended people.
10. Have an idea well
Ideas are famously hard to get, as they are outside of your control. What causes them is always different and mysterious, and they disappear as quickly as they come. You can’t pursue them directly — you just have to be waiting for them, and snatch at them when they come to you.
In my experience, however, there is a way to produce more ideas, which is by creating an external environment that allows you to think openly, which I’ve dubbed an “idea well”. An idea well is a term I use to describe a place or a situation where you can reliably come up with ideas for articles.
Ideas are just thoughts, after all, so the most logical way to produce ideas is to put yourself in a place where you can think. For me, this means doing something that keeps me physically busy while letting my mind wander.
My idea well is running, as it’s just 25 minutes of clear-headedness where I can develop ideas for articles, but I also think of ideas while playing mindless games, sitting in class, and sometimes just lying on my bed and thinking.
Whatever it is, find some activity that allows your mind to wander, and you will be surprised how quickly you start thinking of ideas.
I frequently hear writers complain about not having enough ideas, but for me, the problem is the exact opposite. Because I spend so much time in my idea wells, I am always brimming with ideas, so I never have enough time to write about all the ideas I have.
My backlog of potential articles is always incredibly long, with just the ideas I have recorded now likely being enough to keep me busy writing for a few years.
However, my advice if you’re ever strapped for ideas is to just ask questions. The vast majority of my articles sprouted when I either had a strong opinion about something, or I had a burning question I needed to answer.
Whatever you’re interested in, while you’re engaging with it, try to find something that you don’t understand. Ask a question about it, do some research, and keep digging deeper and deeper.
Eventually, you will find something that will be worth writing an article about.
11. Focus on content, not presentation
When you start, you shouldn’t stress the quality of your writing itself, but instead the content of what you’re saying.
From what I’ve seen, nonfiction is a genre with a pretty small learning curve. Even starting writers can produce competent articles, ones that read fine and communicate their ideas well. While there are some issues with tone and language, those are small, and their articles are still readable.
You need to ensure, first and foremost, that your actual articles have good arguments. Make sure that the premises are solid, that the evidence you’re using is legitimate, and that your points are airtight.
When beginning writers struggle, it’s not because they’re bad at communicating their ideas, it’s because their arguments are bad. They’re either basically spewing talking points that have been used thousands of times before, or they’re making arguments that aren’t convincing and don’t make sense.
When you start, it’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae of your writing. Was this sentence a bit awkward? Is this hook interesting enough? Should I use toward or towards here?
While these are certainly valid concerns, they aren’t the ones you should be the most worried about. You should focus on the bigger picture, if the article itself is worth it.
As you improve that stuff, then the writing can follow. You can focus on making the tone of the article better, making sections flow into each other, and improving the small little quirks in your writing.
After all, if someone hates your article, it won’t be because a transition was a bit clunky. It will be because they fundamentally disagreed with something you said, and by that point, the writing itself won’t matter.
12. Most writers are surprisingly cynical about writing
As I’ve said before, writing is a hobby for me. I do it for fun, because I like the release of sharing my thoughts, and I want to spark discussions in the community.
If you read commentaries on writing by other writers, however, they will paint a far different picture. To many people, writing isn’t some hobby, but instead a sacrifice. It’s a massive struggle, where you put aside your own needs and metaphorically hitch yourself to the plow to push through each day and churn out content for others.
I won’t lie, writing is work, but the picture being painted most writers isn’t remotely accurate. We have this romanticized vision of the tormented artist who suffers to create their work, but writing isn’t supposed to be something that makes you miserable.
You should appreciate the journey of writing as much as the product you produce. There should be some pleasure that comes with sharing your thoughts, or telling stories, and if there isn’t, then maybe you shouldn’t be writing.
13. Read the comments, but don’t define yourself by them
I’ve learned a lot from the comments on Medium. Back in March, I wrote a (now unlisted) article about why I was pro-life, which sparked a large response from Medium’s mostly liberal audience, and the comments poked enough holes in my arguments to change my position on abortion.
On Medium, I’ve found that the comments are extremely useful. Most of the people here are kind and constructive, and the feedback I’ve gotten is almost always wonderful. I’ve used what I’ve heard countless times to change my views and improve on my writing.
While a lot of people try to stay away from the comments, with some writers even saying publicly that commenting is pointless because they will never read them, I disagree with that. I read the comments, and I try to learn from them, but I also know not to take all of them to heart.
That’s because, even with the positive, constructive comments, there are certainly negative ones as well. There are plenty of trolls and awful people who just want to make your day worse, and I’ve learned to ignore them.
My suggestion is to read the comments and get out of it what you can, but also to not take the bad comments too seriously. The comments are a place for you to learn, but not to give sway over your self esteem.
14. Don’t let popularity define you
If you’re a starting writer, here’s something you need to accept right now: you will be yelling into the void.
Unless you are the next Stephen King or you have tons of connections with literary agents and publication editors, you should not expect fame right out of the gate. In fact, you shouldn’t expect fame at all.
You will likely have a few hits with popularity, but you won’t have anything extended. You won’t go viral or get a book deal or be able to quit your job and do writing for a living, you will just have to write for fun.
After all, you’re here for the writing (I hope). Medium is a place to share ideas, and you should be here solely to fulfill that purpose. Don’t lose yourself trying to pursue fame, as it will likely never come for you, and you will be left feeling nothing but disappointed.
All I can suggest is that you be yourself — for readers, that’s the most endearing thing. They want to see writers who are authentic and who speak their minds, and that’s what you should focus on.
