Why do I write on Medium?

Aside from my adoration and admiration for Jk Mansi…

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash

Oh Juhi, You ought to know by now it’s not like me to write from a happy place, about happy times, filled with happy characters. All my best works come from pain and the darkness I’ve seen and can imagine of the world. *drama face*

Good news daily? This sounds like a trap! *wink*

But I know if anyone is capable of smiling in the dark, it’s you, my sweet friend. And I think you know something about me that my writing keeps secret…

You know I’m happy.

You know that I see pain so viscerally only in contrast to the voluminous goodness I’ve experienced in this lifetime. You know I’m grateful.

You also know I’m here, in part, for you, so let’s do this thing and hope my reasons don’t bore your readers into un-followers.

Why do I write on Medium?

Photo by Leio McLaren (@leiomclaren) on Unsplash

It’s a practice in bravery —

I once spent almost 10 years pretending I wasn’t a writer. And the thing about pretending is that if you do it long enough, you actually begin to believe it.

When my fingers starting dancing across the keyboard again, I didn’t trust the witchcraft. As sentences formed and imparted delight and relief and belief in self, the fake-me, non-writer me, kept whispering in my ear that it wasn’t real, that it wasn’t actually good.

I wrote on a critique site — you know, a place where you can suspend your hard work in a state of indefinite rough-draftery? It feels safe to say, “it’s a work in progress”. Finality requires perfection and “perfection” requires confidence, of which I had little to none.

But I spent a lot of years thinking there was some state of being that was so ultimate, you wouldn’t even need confidence anymore. Some point in your writing where you could just know it was worth reading and stop questioning.
Candyland is a myth, guys.

I write on Medium because it requires me to stop questioning and just hit “publish”. It forces me to take my (usually very personal) stories out of perpetual draft-mode and share them…Share myself.

The thrill of claps and comments and readers drove me to create and to believe my words could be “good enough” even if they weren’t perfect. Eventually the release of freeing my expression into the world became the only lasting motivation…well, that and…

Connection

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I have a strong feeling that you’re going to see this answer from most of us. Whether it’s because you happen to find and draw in connected people, or because this is a reason for so many of us to be here.

Medium doesn’t make it easy for us to become friends. There’s no internal messaging system or chat function. There’s not even a great way to network. Follow or don’t. Comment or don’t. We get so used to these notifications that we ignore them or get too busy to respond to them.

But somehow, we still find our people.

Some complain about Medium’s apparent pivot toward personal essays, but I think this focus on human experience and vulnerability makes Medium more social and accessible. We can see ourselves reflected in the words of others. We learn we aren’t alone. We find beauty in self-awareness and we see value in sharing ourselves.

As we gather an audience, we gather the potential for very real relationships.

Strangely, I met my best Medium-friend (hell, one of my best friends, period — follow him, he’s awesome!) through Fiction. We weren’t being vulnerable aside from the aforementioned bravery it takes to put one’s work on a public platform, but we bonded through a mutual appreciation for the creativity and skill we shared as writers.

I don’t know if we get lucky in finding each other, or if we are capable of developing great friendships with just about anyone if we choose one another and devote the time — but this world is big by the billions, and Medium provides us a large swimming pool that somehow also feels intimate and safe enough for introverts to bump floaties until the friendship is real. Come on in, the water’s fine!

This is my Happy Place

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Running multiple publications means spending a lot of time reading stories that others write and deem me worthy of hosting. It’s an incredible honor.

I have a challenging day job and sometimes life wallops me a little too hard to have any energy left for writing. But I’m on Medium almost every day.

Here, I get to read thoughtful, well-researched, educational articles alongside those human-stuff pieces that give me a sense of normalcy in a messy life. I can dive into fictional worlds and come out dreamy. I can dip into a lyrical poem and come out, heart singing.

Reading is just as important as writing, and I do most of mine on Medium.

I have to admit that I burn out at times and get behind on promised projects. I think it’s something to do with turning Medium into a blend of work and pleasure.

When the “obligations” pile up I may retreat, but I always end up missing it. The financial incentive is minimal and I reinvest it anyway, but the people, the content, and the chance for any of us to waltz on and earn a buck, makes this platform unique and continually inviting. Thanks, Medium.

So, there you have it, folks. There are loads of other small things — for example: I like the font — but these are definitely a well-encompassing top three.

I’m excited to read the other responses. If this inspires you, why not submit yours?

Thanks for doing this, Juhi. It’s important to take a pause and remember our “reasons” for most anything we give significant time to.

Next question, please. 😄