Writing Beyond The Money
{4 reasons why you should keep writing on Medium even when you’re not earning from it}
I recently read an article by a very nice Nigerian writer. She vented her frustrations on Medium. The frustrations aptly directed towards Medium. She went on about how it’s so unfair for Medium to segregate some areas in payment.
Which I totally agree with. We are all passionate writers and avid readers here right? So why should we get divided according to geographical locations instead of the value each of us brings to this platform? But I am not here to vent.
Au contraire! I am here to tell you why you should keep writing on the platform. Putting myself in the shoes of someone who is not eligible to join the Medium Partner Program (because I am one). Why should I keep writing?
Why should you keep posting more valuable content to the platform even through you get no reward for it? Why should you pour your heart and soul into articles that won’t earn you any money?
1. Exhibit passion
One of the ways to prove you’re truly passionate about something is by doing it whole-heartedly even when you are not getting paid for it. A singer should sing and write songs regardless of the reward. Why? Because it shows you enjoy the process of creating that piece of art more than the result of that process. Your focus should be on the process, not the results nor the reward for the results. Since writing is your passion, then write. You’ll never go wrong with that.
2. Showcase your work
Use the medium platform as an international opportunity to showcase your work to a diverse audience. You have a chance to get peer reviews that wasn’t available to other writers before 2012. Use it wisely. Make the most of it. Focus on what it offers and take advantage of that, pay less attention to what you’re not getting from it.
3. Build discipline
Writing for medium helps you build your writing discipline. It necessitates for you to write and edit your work frequently. Basically you go through the whole writing cycle over and over again. Planning, drafting and editing steps become routine work for you.
This discipline will help you once you get the writing job which ays. A jobs that requires you to work with deadlines.
It will also help when working on major projects such as a book. You’ll be hitting your daily, weekly and monthly milestones without a fuss.
4. Invest in your future
Writing for medium is a long-term investment. Kind of like buying shares, you shouldn’t go into it expecting instant payout. This is a platform that should help you develop your craft, refine your writing and get peer reviews to make you a wholistic writer. As you keep on writing for for medium, the quality of your work should improve. This giving you an upper hand in case of any other writing opportunities that open up elsewhere.
Moreover, your articles will be garnering views. Meaning, the moment Medium reviews it’s policies and considers you eligible to earn from your literary work, you’ll be better off than a beginner who waited for the paid partnership before beginning to write.
In conclusion
Medium is a platform like no other. I like it, it gives me access to so many remarkable writers that I would have never had a chance to interact with. Even though it has it’s downsides, so does any other platform!
I mean there are platforms that still don’t accept my attempts to pay for their premium services based on my location including YouTube. As if they are saying our money is no good to them.
Again, I have had premium services where I couldn’t get access to certain audiobooks since they were ‘unavailable in my region.’ And yet I was a premium member who had paid a premium price like all others. I was incensed! But I now smile because, that’s what torrents are for right?
I get that you need to earn a living. But still,
Your writing should transcend monetary motives.
“Pursue excellence and success will chase you pants down.” 3 Idiots
Use medium to attain a certain level of excellence in your writing and soon enough, the money will come.
So
A message from yours truly,
Keep writing.
