Medium: Read & Write Stories 12+

Although I written privately, on and off, throughout my life, it is only recently that I have been sharing my words. I was daunted by the idea of submitting work to publications, so I started my own blog, then heard about Medium. I self published at first, then harnessed some bravery and submitted to publications. Medium is a wonderful place to reach an existing audience, to network with a community of writers, and gain confidence in your craft. I don’t earn much money (yet), I don’t think I write enough, but at the moment, the positive reactions to my writing are spurring me on, motivating me to keep going, and providing valuable feedback. Also, Medium is one huge magazine with more interesting articles than you have time to read, but no adverts! Not bad for the small subscription price. My one criticism would be that comments and highlights are all listed with your articles. That is a bit annoying and cumbersome. It discourages me to interact with others because it messes up my list of stories.

Medium is a rare site that’s enjoyable for readers *and* writers. There’s so much good content, and it’s easy to subscribe to topics of interest so the recommended articles are actually relevant. And for writers, the interface is so minimalist, it’s a joy to use. There are no distractions, the formatting is intuitive and straightforward. And the payment model is inspired - you’re not reliant on ad clicks, nor on generating your own subscribers ala Patreon. Rather, whenever a paying subscriber likes your work, you get paid. In less than a week and with a handful of articles I’ve earned over $20 - not huge sums, but from merely dipping my toe into the water it’s indicative of the potential.

The app, though, doesn’t deliver the full experience. There don’t seem to be the same formatting options (can i italicise text? If so, it’s not easy to find). It doesn’t seem possible to submit articles to publications through the app. Private notes don’t appear.

So, Medium is wonderful. The app is great for readers but incomplete for writers. I’d suggest it’s a good place to write drafts, but it’s not a complete enough offering to replace the website.

I got a lot out of it. Maybe it’s because I was born in the 70’s before we had mobile phones etc. As a child the only thing I wanted to do was to be a pro soccer player. My dream was to play in front of thousands of fans.
Now in 2023 we are not only trying to succeed in life. But we also want everyone to love us.
But with love also comes the truth. Without the truth. We will never be able to be happy and free.
So you could say, we are in a time where we need everyone to love us with amazing comments.
In our society today. We have done well to limit the amount of stress we had in the past. By giving us everything that we need. However when having everything. We have nothing. As part of being alive is to be grateful with what we have got. Then once we have peace with that. We will become happier.
😊😊