Why I Am Not Writing About My First 30 Days on Medium.

I’ll share my experiences later.

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

For a moment I thought it was an initiation right on Medium because I saw a lot of people doing it. Let everyone know how your first 30 days on here went. Then you would have arrived. It looks like a mini-trend. I see it on an almost daily basis. Thirteen articles in under 30 days! That’s how many such articles I saw. Who’s to say I haven’t missed a few others? But I want to buck that trend. I want to be a little different and not go the “lessons after 30 days” route. Somehow, I just do not feel pressured to do it. And I am fine with it. Read on to find out why.

I do not want any comparison

I do not want to fall into the comparison trap. I know myself better than anyone does. I know how quickly I tend to compare my successes with those of my contemporaries. I remember when I was neck-deep in the comparison hole on Instagram as a new photographer. I was constantly checking people’s follower count. Worse yet, I was obsessed with likes on my pictures. I was also too interested in how many pictures my ‘competition’ had posted. Thankfully, I found my way out of that mess. I am very cautious never to repeat that on Medium.

The sample size is too small

I feel like a 30-day window is too short for me to accurately track my progress. Yes, I have published a few articles here and there. I have had some rejections, and I have had some success with a few publications. But I believe it would be too soon to draw any definite conclusions based on that. I do not know when I will put together a ‘what I’ve learnt’ article. Maybe after I have published 30 articles. Maybe after a hundred articles. Maybe when I get 10,000 claps. As you can see, I don’t even know what the yardstick is. In due course, I will figure it out. But for now, I just want to do the most important thing. Writing.

I am still learning the ropes

It’s safe to say I am still learning the ropes on Medium. I only just highlighted a sentence in an article for the first time a few days ago. Leaving private notes and inserting kickers are the next things to learn. I am still trying to get a thorough understanding of the Medium Partner Program. I am still finding my writing style. In short, I’m now finding my feet. All that is compounded by the fact that sometimes my schedule gets so grueling I do not even visit Medium. But I know I’ll be in complete control very soon. I’ll soon get past the experimentation stage. But for now, I am still experimenting. Just soaking it all in, while luxuriating in my own experiences.

I’m not saying there is anything particularly wrong with people sharing their experiences over the past 30 or 60 days on Medium. Or whatever the time frame is. On the contrary, there is a great deal to learn from them. And I have learnt so much. Upon reading the experiences of some people after their first 30 days on Medium, I have seen what has worked for them. I have seen the mistakes they have made. I have seen what adjustments they intend to make. But most importantly, I have found some very helpful tips that I am going to modify to suit my situation.

More than anything, I’m inspired to keep writing. I’m motivated to keep improving, knowing that I am not the only ‘newbie’ on here. But I will not feel pressured to do it because all my peers are doing it.