I’m Still Making Money from Medium

From an unhealthy obsession to a ghostly memory

I remember the first moment I laid my eyes on Medium. Over dinner at my college town restaurant, an old friend told me how he had been making money to write about whatever he wanted in this place called “Medium.”

My ears perked up. At the time, I had recently decided I wanted to pursue writing in some fashion for a living. (I had no idea what the next four years would entail — the trials and tribulations of tapering into this digital space to make a name and place for myself, not to mention fulfilling career.) And recently after graduation, Covid hit. I considered myself very lucky.

So I tip-toed into this Medium place. Without a care in the world or any idea what I was doing, I began to write.

During quarantine, I felt creative. I had a part-time job — my first one post-grad. In between de-cluttering, scrapbooking, and doing anything I could to keep myself occupied, I found myself addicted to the keys — never running out of words to say.

In the beginning, I’d average one full story every three days. I could not stop writing. It was like word vomit pouring through my fingers. The endorphins sent me into a writer’s high. I couldn’t stop writing. It didn’t matter what it was about. I just kept spittballing.