I’ve been considering a move off of Medium for a while now.
The general concerns that I’ve seen such as not owning your own audience, building Medium’s brand as opposed to your own, and a lack of ability to monetize posts are most certainly valid, but I have a larger issue with how I write.
When I write on Medium, I’m writing for writers.
Ok, maybe I’ve fell into a hole in the algorithm in which the vast majority of successful content is writing about becoming a better writer. On Medium, too many of the members are writers, themselves. Contrast this to something like YouTube where the vast majority of users are not creators, it’s hard to understand the value of Medium.
I don’t want to write for other writers.
Today is a day in which I am forcing myself to get words on the paper despite not feeling so good. I’ve been sick for a few days, and it’s been pretty annoying. But I know how important it is to flex the muscle of creativity and writing.
I’ve been publishing every other day for two months, now (including today). It’s been a wild journey, but I’ve actually had quite a bit of success (I think). I’ve gained over 200 followers, I’ve racked in plenty of views, and I’ve started to actually make some money from my writing, which is a pretty wild idea. I still hold that I would write even if I made no money (I mean, I’m barely making anything of substance as is), and I love this craft.
One thing I’ve appreciated about Medium is not all my posts have to be great. It’s more about consistency than producing beautiful pieces of content.
I’ve seen a lot of people at my school have intense bouts of anxiety. I only really have anxiety at specific times, and it’s usually the night before a big test. Even then, though, it’s pretty manageable.
I find that a lot of my life has been incredibly status-focused, fueled by cues in my family and other influential people in my life. It’s something I’m actively trying to get away from.
Something I never quite understood about when people would talk about college is that the friendships you make there are amazing. I didn’t really have an understanding of how wonderful they could be until I got there, but now I really miss them. I find it weird how quickly I developed close friendships at college. It took less than 3 months. I’ve noticed that my writing tends to worsen when I am away from them. It makes sense — the quality of conversations I have is far below that of those at college.
I can’t meditate like I used to, which is frustrating. My mind can’t really focus. I think it’s the fast-paced content that I’ve been consuming. I mean — take a look at this blog post. It jumps from topic to topic. While I intended to come in and write something polished, that’s not really where my mind is, today.
