I’m Going to Tell You A Secret

You can write all day, every day, on Medium, but if you don’t read the work of others and comment, clap, etc., you aren’t going to be successful here.

Yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition. That’s another nice thing about Medium that we sometimes take for granted. You can write any cock-a-mami thing you wish. If you spell it wrong, the word-processing program we use to write on Medium usually clues you into the fact. There’s a lot that is good about Medium — and some that is pretty frustrating.

The thing I’ve learned lately is just the same old re-run of things I have learned about other endeavors. It works if you work on it. If you just write some stories and wait for the claps and encouragement to come, you probably aren’t going to be very successful here. (Oops I did it again).

Good thing Grammarly doesn’t get to control everything I write. I’d have nothing left. I think what I have to say here is more important than that preposition.

Anyway, succeeding on Medium isn’t so hard, but it is a lot of hard work. If you want to know how to succeed here, read authors who have, like Jan Sebastian 🖐👩‍🦰. I just read an article by her that would have shamed me if I wasn’t so busy feeling sorry for myself.

I used to be successful on the platform. My checks were nice. Hell, I’ve been here since 2019. I should know how things go, but the trouble with Medium is the trouble with my whole life — I’m not committed to working as hard as one must to succeed here.

You can’t just bounce in here every few days and write a little story, and maybe read a couple of stories by other authors; and then wait for success.

It will never come.

A lot of things were changed here in the last few months and years. Well, mostly a new man took over, and he did many things I didn’t like. But one thing he can’t be blamed for is my recent lack of success here.

It’s like any other endeavor. You have to work it to make it work.

I once read many, many Medium stories every day, or most days, anyway. I also made sure I had a fresh story out on the platform at least once a week, but preferably more often.

Then I got discouraged. A lot of the changes the new captain made didn’t sit well with me. Still don’t. But me bitching about it helps me how?