I Wrote Over 100 Stories on Medium in 3.5 Months. Here Are The Most Important Things I’ve Learned So Far.
10 of the best, and none of them are “write every day”.
I started writing on Medium towards the end of May 2023.
By midway through September, roughly sixteen weeks had passed, and I’d written 102 articles.
I’ve learned a lot about Medium as a platform in that time, too much to share in one story. So I’ve condensed it all down into 10 overarching points.
If you want to grow, engage
Like most online platforms, it’s almost impossible to gain more followers without engaging with other users.
If you want to grow, you have to be willing to reach back and be an active member of the community.
On some platforms, that can be an uncomfortable (or just plain boring) experience.
Fortunately, Medium has one of the best, most supportive communities on the interwebs.
If you want to gain more followers and get more eyeballs on your words, spend some time reading, clapping, commenting and following each day.
Don’t use AI
When I first started on Medium, I naively dabbled in AI.
I thought ChatGPT was a quick fix that’d help me churn out oodles of articles, and before long I’d be raking it in (as we say here in Northern Ireland).
Of course, I was wrong.
I haven’t gone anywhere near ChatGPT since early June. It’s useful for a great many things, but creative expression isn’t one of them.
AI is lame.
Headlines are key
While the actual content of your articles on Medium is incredibly important, the headlines that go with those articles are even more so.
You can write the best story Medium’s ever seen, and if your headline’s rubbish, no-one will ever read it.
You need to devote significant time to each of your headlines. I’d even go so far as to say you should spend as much time on your headline as writing the article itself.
Get your headlines right and the rest will fall into place.
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