Writing for 30 Days Straight
Insights into a writer’s journey
I was always looking for a way to express myself in a creative manner. This urge to create came after devouring large amounts of knowledge. I was reading books, completing courses, and listening to podcasts. I felt that there should be a next step, where I transition from a consumer to a producer.
An object of creation
Even though I’ve been reading, I never thought I should write. I didn’t know how I could reproduce my internal imagery through words. I could write in a straightforward manner, but it wasn’t how I was seeing things in the realms of my imagination.
I considered painting, but I couldn’t find the time to learn how to properly do it. I tried programming because I was hoping that I would create an App or something similar to represent the web of ideas, I had stored. It didn’t work, because I didn’t resonate with writing code. It felt empty for me and not full of colors, sounds and feelings like my inner world was. I think it was a matter of congruence, I was looking for the path that spoke to me the most.
It wasn’t until college, after years of investment that I’ve reconsidered something I thought wasn’t for me.
An unfoldment of connections
I’ve chosen to follow a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. I loved the subject because it was the easiest for me to comprehend and come with novel ideas. I also had an intense interest in using my knowledge of the psyche, to reshape it into a better form.
Learning more about psychology, and writing about it, helped me have a realization. I could see for the first time that it was through writing, that my work started to utter the gospel of the world within myself.
I was shocked, because my intense hunger for creation, the void I was feeling for years had been finally filled.
One of the ways through which I've realized this was, the creation of presentations for different classes we’ve had. I could see that writing my presentation offered the opportunity to share my interior imagery, thorough words.
Another way was by talking with people. It was an ecstatic experience. If the conversation I was having was good, I could see in front of me an unfoldment of connections, an entire world that had at its core our dialogue.
I’ve realized that writing and speaking, should be my object of creation. This was a way to create a bridge between this world and my soul.
The emergence of a new self
A place devoided of meaning
I heard about Medium, about 2–3 years ago, I considered it but I didn’t attempt to write here. I didn’t have any second thoughts, until one year after I finished college and worked for a large corporation.
Working for a large corporation as a Customer Service representative, was completely soulless and devoid of any meaning. I was feeling that all my potential was slowly but surely vanishing. Thinking that I might spend years like that was an apocalyptic scenario for me.
I knew for sure that I will find a way out, that I will do everything within my power to change my situation.
So I did. I quit my job, started a Master’s degree, and found other ways of earning money.
Marching forward into the light
At that time, I’ve also decided to write on Medium for 30 days. The change in my way of being was miraculous. Every day I would write, my thinking would get clearer, and things that were happening around me became the fuel of my creation. My brain was raving years of ideas, even though I’ve had only several hours per day to write.
It’s wonderful. I think having the chance to write for a public, bringing value to others, is a tremendous opportunity. People are complaining that Medium pays too little for their work. I think they are forgetting that not too long ago, platforms like this didn’t even exist.
My generation is a soft generation, fast gratification is a poison that spreads to the minds of people. Earning money and providing value to other people, requires hard work. You’ve written 10 articles, three of which are about begging for followers, and you expect hundreds of dollars, what a joke.
I believe focusing on expressing yourself as best as you can while providing a real object of value for others should be your focus.
I’ve written my first article on the 18th of November. I continued to write daily until the 18th of December. I didn’t publish daily, as sometimes, the stories required more days of work.
I didn’t earn too much (about 5$), but that was to be expected. I joined Medium’s Partner Program before the eligibility conditions have been changed. I don’t have 100 followers, but my articles were still monetized.
I didn’t spoil my writing by focusing on trends, or marketing optimizations. I simply write about my interests, and I will let that guide my growth.
I think for beginners, using Medium as a way to share your work is a better choice than trying to squeeze it into your main source of income. Earning enough money using Medium, to actually make a difference in your life could take a lot of time. Nonetheless, your stories could make for a very good portfolio, to get clients for whom you could write. It was what helped me to get my first client on Upwork.
Writing for me changed my mode of being, it helped me gather and crystalize my knowledge and experience, into an object of creativity that speaks the language of my inner world.
I will continue, to move one article at a time towards the betterment of my writing and of my own life.
How do you feel about your writing journey?
Let me know in the comments
