Why I’m Taking a New Approach To Writing on Medium: An Experiment
With over 100 pieces written and published, I feel it’s time to take it easy
As I reached my target last month of writing 100 pieces on Medium, I’ve moved into a more relaxed mode.
I say pieces, as opposed to articles because when I set off on this exciting journey, I never imagined I would ever write poetry.
Writing poetry online was never on my radar.
Even though poems are shorter than articles, I have come to appreciate poetry so much now that I see them as having the same value.
I believe poetry is a different kind of work that comes more from the soul.
So, having reached my milestone of 100 pieces (poems included), I can safely say, I feel good about my accomplishment.
Have I got thousands of followers or millions of claps? No, but that was not the goal.
I am satisfied with what has happened at this point in my Medium journey.
My Medium Experience
My experience as a new writer on Medium has been amazing. It all started with one article that Dr. Mehmet Yildiz accepted and published.
For anyone who does not know Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, he is the founder and editor of five publications on Medium. They are Illumination, Illumination-Curated, Illumination’s Mirror, SYNERGY, and Technology Hits.
He is also a top writer in Transportation, Writing, Leadership, Health, Self-Improvement, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Government, Investing, Social Media, Education, Books, and Business.
Dr. Mehmet Yildiz is one of the most encouraging and gracious editors I have met. Okay, there are loads of amazing editors on Medium, but he is the director of all these publications, clearly a busy man, and when he reads your articles or engages with you, you would think you were the only writer he ever dealt with.
When he published my first article, “Change is Risky, But Not Impossible: Your 7 Step Guide to a More Exciting Life, And it doesn’t have to be traumatic.” on the 27th of January 2021, I was ecstatic!
It’s a great day when you get your first article published on Medium and when it’s by a kind, humble editor like Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, it makes it even better.
I would encourage all writers, but especially new writers, to submit their work to one of these publications.
I can assure you, you will be treated with the utmost respect and care.
Here is that first article I wrote.
I want to say a big thank you to Dr. Mehmet Yildiz for the wonderful work he does, supporting, encouraging, and giving both new and experienced writers a dynamic platform to work on.
Six months after that first article was published
I am in a flow now and I think it comes from the poetry, because writing poems keeps things moving and I believe new writers need to be writing a lot, otherwise, we lose interest, confidence, and momentum.
But, as I’ve reached my first big writing goal, I feel it’s time to take it easy and apply a new approach to my writing on Medium.
I want to be as free and authentic as I can be. I want to write what’s coming up in me even if that means all poems.
I feel Medium is a great place to experiment with the craft of writing as the writers and editors here are so open to creativity, uniqueness, and vulnerability.
The Experiment
So, the experiment is to write what I feel when I feel it and submit it.
It will show me different audiences and also what feels good for me.
I’ve been reading Thomas Plummer’s work recently and I love his teaching and even just reading his content.
I notice how he says it as it is. He’s raw, vulnerable, honest, and real. This kind of writing is punchy, alive, and engaging.
I always come away having felt I learned something new.
He has over forty years of experience as a writer and has shown me that we can write in many different ways.
I don’t want to get hemmed into one style of writing at the kick-off of my writing career.
I want to be flexible and open to trying different styles and topics too.
And the way I feel to do this is to not think about the claps or responses until later.
I know that the numbers do give information, but focusing on them too much can be distracting.
The bigger bloggers say the numbers don’t lie. It’s true, so after a period of time, I will be able to review what my readers enjoy and hopefully, it will be the topics I enjoy too. We will see.
Sometimes readers know what we have to impart and it’s disappointing and even annoying for them if we do not give them what they want.
I know this because I am a reader too and have experienced this with a writer here on Medium.
I knew they could help me to be a better writer, but this writer doesn’t want to write about that stuff anymore, even though he does reach out to new writers.
Maybe he needs to learn more about who his target audience is, but if he wants to keep his freedom, that’s his right too.
I can find other writers who like teaching new writers.
The beginning of the experiment..
So far in my experiment, I have noticed my desire to write short, silly posts with perhaps little significance for the reader.
Yet, I want to write those things because they are coming up in me.
I think short pieces can be nice for some readers who are in a rush and want a small piece of inspiration, humor, or insight to reflect on without having to spend too much time reading.
I feel it’s a lighter side of me that wants to be expressed in my writing and perhaps I will find the right publication for such silly, off-the-cuff pieces.
Or maybe I should start my own publication for those silly moments! :)
A lot of my work can be quite deep as I write about healing and spirituality. So, to balance that out, humor is important for me, even though not all readers like it.
Maybe they are a little intense and being silly seems like a waste of time for them.
I can be serious and deep, but I don’t want to be like that all of the time.
I feel, in time, I may write short pieces for magazines like Readers Digest as I do like those short stories and poems.
Limericks are another area I wish to explore.
So for now, Medium will be my platform for experimenting.
If you read what I write, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to read my work.
And if you don’t like everything that I write, just skip over it, I won’t be offended.
Final thoughts —
After 6 months on Medium, I feel ready to rethink my strategy. I know the platform a lot better now and what can be done with it.
I see how easy it could be to fall into a pattern, so I want to step back and take more control over my use of the platform.
But saying that, the platform itself is excellent.
It’s about me learning how to use it in a way that benefits me and my writing goals, while at the same time providing valuable content for my readers.
I'm really looking forward to seeing where this will take me and what my next six months on Medium will look like.
Below is an article I wrote after 3 weeks of writing on Medium..
Before closing, I want to include some of my favorite articles by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz and Thomas Plummer.
They are very different writers, but both equally inspired me on this platform. I think you will enjoy their work and find them very helpful too.
Keep in mind, they are prolific writers and so I have just chosen two articles by each of them to give you a taste of their work, but I would recommend you spend some time reading their articles.
You won’t be disappointed!
Dr. Mehmet Yildiz
Thomas Plummer
Thank you for reading.
I would also like to give thanks to all the writers who have inspired me so far on my journey here on Medium. I appreciate your creative work and support Diana C. Melanie J. Spyder Alice F. Warren Brown Ivette Cruz Dr. Amy Pierovich James G Brennan Sahil Patel Gurpreet Dhariwal America Zed Nombuso Makhubu Jessica Cote Kim Vazquez i.Magami Joseph M. Learned Rosy Gee Franco Amati Ali Hall Alice F. George Blue Kelly Anthi Psomiadou Kris Bedenian Rishabh Sharma Sh*t Happens - Lost Girl Travel Esther George Terry Mansfield Ankit Priyadarshi Jack Road Glad Doggett pockett dessert Ching Ching John ONeill Alberto García 🚀🚀🚀 Mario López-Goicoechea Rose Lee Anne Chisom Annisa RT Anne Bonfert Luisa Chekrygin Dr. Fatima Imam Myriam Ben Salem🦋 Margie Willis —RAINNA Ivette Cruz JM Heatherly David Rudder Christina M. Ward Frank Larkin Frank Ontario Mark Tulin Cooking at Home Jesse Wilson Denise Larkin Katie Michaelson Simão Cunha Nicol Valentina Joel Mwakasege Jupiter Grant Carolyn Hastings Henery X Graceygee Priyanka Srivastava FAIZAN AMJAD Keri Mangis William J Spirdione Liam Ireland George Lamptey Joseph Lieungh Jack Road Dew Langrial Adam Ray Cronk Karen Madej Francine Fallara Dave Logan
There are many more writers, so if I forgot to add your name, my apologies.
Thank you SYNERGY for publishing my article and to all the editors who take the time to read and publish my work.
