How Writing Weekly on Medium Changed My Life

One year ago I gave myself a challenge to post one blog post each week on Medium. Why? I wanted to see if this writing hobby of mine had any merit. Nothing better than a self imposed rule with the hashtag #humpdayheidi.

With friend and family encouragement, I published a new piece every Wednesday. My weekends, previously spent having far flung adventures with a glass of whisky, were now devoted to my writing desk. I solicited topics, daydreamed plots and did what every writer must do–forced my ass in the chair even when I had nothing to say. With time, I always found something. My raw weekend prose was sculpted into something manageable on weekday train rides to work. After 52 weeks of discipline, this is what happened and what I learned.

1. My writing got better

To create flow, one must create a ritual. Weekend writing became easier and easier until I was like Pavlov’s dog, salivating at the thought of prose, before my ass-chair time even came. I also became better at self editing developing an understanding of which things worked and which things didn’t. I started to be wary of superfluous adjectives and overly needy verbs. I also had “editors” devote their time to helping me. Sometimes they were friends in Tahoe that I forced to read my work in exchange for a hearty meal. Other times it was my…