Two Years and 100 Stories After
Transformative encounters, unlearning limiting habits, and learning to reignite the fire within
This week, I published my 100th story on Medium. My productivity has gone up too. That is if you will call turning in 2 articles per week prolific. Well, isn’t everybody here running his own race? Yes, I’m speeding up now. Or trying to.
I discovered Medium around 2015. Then, I can only read three articles per month. Foreclosed to me was an ever-growing lodestone of captivating stories. The type of stuff I will love to read and write about was what many of these authors were massively churning out here — on Medium.
Every month, I eagerly read through my puny collection of 3 free articles permitted to freeloaders that I was, then. To get hold of more of these “can’t put-off stories”, I often had to log on to the site through other office computers. I bookmarked many of these stories. Many of those stories still stay snugly curated in my Microsoft OneNote app.
Back in 2015, Medium was just a 3-year-old toddler in cyberspace. Behold, that sapling has grown into the sprawling acacia tree where we all long to take shade, write or satisfy our insatiable reading cravings. Bravo and thanks to
Ev Williams and the editors at Medium.
In my early years, some writers that got me hooked were Bruce Kasanoff, , Mayo Oshin, Editi Effiong, among others.
In 2015, I was caught on the wrong side of one more workplace downsizing cycle. Now I had more time to write, read and read more of those inimitable stories.
Bring it on, unsag the sagging inspiration.
Come 2020, I jumped in. Very late, but not too late. I could have been one of those early trailblazing writers on this platform. I could write about anything if only I knew what to write about
Start, nurture, and sustain. But how?
Be gone, all ye self-doubts, I finally joined the Medium train. Of course, the troupe has gone far. Far, far. But does it really matter how long the train’s been gone? Isn’t being late always better than never? I made my choice.
They even pay you for writing — that is, if you’ve got the stuff other expert writers and connoisseurs of expert writings want. I know I’m a compulsive reader right from my pre-teens.
Can I ever cut the mark? How will I know if I never try? And try I did. I’m still trying.
“Don’t just try, keep on at it”, I hear and will heed your counsel. Yes, I will.
As a Medium pro, my first thrilling moment came when my first story was published by Illumination Curated — Your Life Is What Your Mind Made of It.
Other stories soon followed, though not in quick succession. Not unexpectedly, most of my pretentious scribblings were rejected by many of Medium publications. I understand and I bore it well. For after all, “Ain’t you just a novice?”, I soothingly console myself. Try more.
As a novice on Medium, waiting for days to hear that the story you spent hours or days crafting fell into your favorite publication’s rejection box could be very frustrating. Some editors will courteously decline your masterpiece with cold comforts similar to, “Sorry, your story does not meet our rules or standards this time… Try again next time”.
No, I certainly bear them no grudges at all. After all, wasn’t the high standard of writing what attracted me to Medium at first? No. Don’t relax the standards. But it sure doesn’t hurt to give your zealous neophytes a try.
I soon learned to live with and learn from those rejections. Some editors even look at my puny efforts, offering helpful suggestions on how to “neat up” my writings. My special thanks to all the editors and writers that took chances on me in my infant writing days here on Medium - Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, , Anangsha Alammyan.
The same appreciation goes to publications like Illumination, Data Driven Investor, Curios, Better Advice, The Masterpiece, and The Wreader, among others.
Shortly afterward, I started my publication - Muse2Muse. There, I focus on writing and reading. Join me on Muse2Muse and let’s talk and write more about what we read and wrote and how we can use the insights to better our lives and our world.
Along on this trip, it has been a great honor to meet other writers like Boateng Sekyere, Annelise Lords, Kyle Chastain, Liam Ireland, and others. The list is long. I appreciate and cherish your mentoring throughout all these years.
Medium won’t be anywhere without many of its outstanding writers. I mean the top 20% of the top 20% that captivates the reading and aspiring writing audience. Yes, they also grab greater than the top 80% of Medium writers' earnings.
No, I certainly don’t bear any grudge. The quality of their writing is always top-notch. Whoever bears grudges against his role models? No, not from my corner.
One thing you soon learn is that “there is no brother in the jungle” of writing on Medium. (Or almost). Almost all hyper-successful writers cater to their own writings. Be it known to you that in the planet of Medium writers everyone is for himself.
No malice. I’ve already told you that.
When I read stories from Ayodeji Awosika, Tim Denning, Jessica Wildfire, Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, Sean Kernan, Zulie Rane, Shannon Ashley, Rebecca Stevens A. — ah, yes, I can fill a page with similar names. I tell myself, “when I grow up, I will write like these guys/gals.”
And where will my Medium writing be without the ever-supportive Genius Turner? I often wonder, how he finds the time to read my punny musings. Often, he patiently goes through my stories, offering invaluable shine on my fumbling attempts.
This outstanding Genius taught me how to write strong and more effective story captions. A prolific writer as he is, he still makes out to come over to my jungle-like corner to read and point out my warts — quietly.
The screenshot below is one of many examples where the Genius ever so gently pointed out many of my egregious mistakes. The last word in the highlighted section below should have read “control” and not “concern”. You see it now?
Without his supervision, I may never have seen the mishap. It all goes out to prove that, one caring genius mentoring over your shoulders from over 6000 miles away is better than 1000s who merely flip through your stories with claps even though they have never read a single paragraph of your writ.
Won’t you rather keep on at it, especially now that you have a veritable audience of one genius cheering you on to success? For sure, I will hold the fort,
May your writings meet with geniuses that walk this planet with the rest of us mortals.
Takeaways
Comparing your output and its quality with those who have been in the game before you learn the alphabet is a self-defeating strategy. Learn and write at your own pace. But, please keep on with it.
The more you write, the better (though not necessarily easier) your writings become. There is no time you’ll perfectly arrive, though.
My goal is to write stories similar to those that magnetized me to Medium almost a decade ago. To date, I do often mix “been” for “being” but certainly not for my “beans”. The learning never stops.
Successful online writing, we were told, depends on your writing frequently, writing well, and writing for others. Agreed. I’ve discovered that to write well for others, I must first learn to write for myself - first. I do this by flowing out my bared, unbribed, and unbowed soul as the words fly out across the screen. This is not narcissism. I’m just learning to write like my favorite writers.
Aspiring writers from many African countries are permanently cut off. The annual subscription fee of $50, though a pittance in the pockets of Western writers, is a big deal here in my country. (No, I’m not suggesting that subscriptions should be free.) Here, the average minimum monthly wage is less than $100 for many workers. No. Medium is not to blame. Certainly.
Despite all the payment channels available, getting qualified African writers to receive payment for their stories’ earnings is like the experience of the proverbial camel passing through the eye of a needle. I hope that Ev Williams will address this disconcerting issue so that more Africa-based writers’ voices can be heard. And possibly partake in the Medium dream.
To commemorate my 100th story on Medium, I’m sharing some of my personal (opinion) best stories. Read them for free here.
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Another version of this essay was originally published on Medium. The number of my published articles has been growing appreciably ever since.
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