Halfway Through My Medium Experiment: What I Have Learned So Far.

Today is my fifteenth day in a row that I have posted on Medium. My goal is to post every day for 31 days and see what happens. This is a Ninja writers blogging challenge that originated with Shaunta Grimes and you can read about her experiences with the challenge here: https://medium.com/startup-grind/i-blogged-everyday-for-a-month-heres-what-happened-5f1dc616164c https://artplusmarketing.com/i-blogged-every-day-for-30-more-days-heres-what-happened-c62fd07cb6fa

After today I will have passed the half way mark of the Post a Day For the Month of May Challenge. Today I have decided to reflect upon how the experiment is going and what I have learned about myself as a writer as a result.

The positives that have come out of posting every day:

• I have written 15 posts in a row. I did not think that I would make it past the first week so I am very proud of this achievement.
• My followers have jumped up from 66 to 95 in two weeks (a gain of 29). My viewing stats have also improved. Going from 4 views on the 2nd of May to 62 on the 16th of May is quite exciting.

• Discovering that I can actually write non fiction! I have never really considered myself to be a blogger before this challenge. My niche and my happy place is when I am creating stories. To experiment as a writer and diversify a little has been a great boost to my confidence. Finding my own voice, instead of my characters is helping me to develop and grow.
• The feedback and community. Having my fellow ninjas (and others) read my work and provide feedback has been wonderful. I have also been learning a lot from reading the posts of others, as a writer and a learner. I also love that we are teaching and inspiring each other. What we say is reaching people. We can make a difference with our words.
• Having a deadline to meet every day has been a good lesson in discipline. While I was already writing daily, the amount of time that I usually dedicate to my writing varied greatly. I am now consistently writing for at least an hour every day and I am looking forward to applying this habit towards my fiction writing as well.
• I have had one story invited to be in a publication:

and one story accepted into a publication competition

• I am having a blast. On the days that I am inspired I am having a lot of fun, with this challenge.

The negative side of posting every day:

• Figuring out what to write… On the days that I am not inspired and on days, like today, when I am exhausted after work and a long day, daily blogging can be stressful. It is becoming harder to figure out what I am going to write. On those tough days, when I am mentally and physically exhausted, I am not convinced that the content that I am posting is of a sharable quality.
• Wondering if it is worth it. While I am happy with my stats for this month I have also reached a plateau. While my following on Medium has improved, I am consistently averaging between 10 and 30 views per story, mostly from the same people (if you are one of those people, thank you so much for your support). Those figures are improving slowly but it has made me question the effectiveness of blogging every day.
• The time factor. Daily blogging can time consuming. Though I am keen to complete this challenge, I cannot see me keeping up with this pace after this month.
• The time that I am spending blogging is taking time away from my other writing goals. My primary writing goal is to finish the first draft of my novel by the end of 2017. My second writing goal is to complete the 1000 Day MFA in which we are writing a short story every week. Between blogging daily, plus cobbling together my short story throughout the week I have very little mental and physical energy to work on my WIP. While blogging is helping me to develop as a writer, at the end of this month I will be re-evaluating my schedule to figure out how I can serve my primary writing goals more effectively than I am now.

What I have learned about myself as a writer during this experiment:

• I am more versatile than I ever expected. It turns out that I actually have things that I want to say (for somebody who has trouble finding her voice in person, this is BIG).
• The process from initial inspiration, writing, and developing a blog post that I am proud of is really exciting.
• I am not a poet, and boy do I know it. No matter how much I try, poetry is not my forte.
• Writing fantasy fiction is still my happy place, though experimental blogging can be fun too.
• I am now in love with Drabble (creating a story that is exactly 100 words). At the very least I plan to continue with my drabble challenge at the end of this month (200 prompts, 200 drabbles).

If you are also embarking upon this challenge, good luck and hang in there. I am proud of you and amazed at how far we have all come together.

Remember

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