Why It Is Hard For Me To Write On Medium
By: Carrie Tawil
Tags: Purpose, Personal Growth, Writing, Ｍedium

Why It Is Hard For Me To Write On Medium

Perfection and Money stunt creativity

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Since July of 2020, I have submitted articles for others to read out of the pure joy of just being able to write on a platform and call myself a “writer”. With a couple of articles accepted through publications, the excitement of publishing each week added fuel to the passion for writing.

Within the past few months, I noticed a decrease in submitting articles and even completing one. I looked into my draft box and realized I have about 10 articles started but not finished. Writer's block, maybe, but I have not fallen short of topics to write about. There is a lack of completion.

The Shift

When I learned I could get paid for content, a shift in publishing occurred. There was significant self-talk that played over in my mind.

Is this worthy of others' reading?

If it was being read, would it get enough reading time to be income worthy?

I have been sucked into the mindset of perfection and money. Writing to get paid seemed easy at first until the truth of the system was revealed.

So much is written about how to be successful on a writing platform. Publishing every day, write even if no one is reading, articles won’t be read if there are no followers to read them, write for your heart and no one else's, show feelings and emotions in writing, the list continues.

What I realize now is all of the articles are correct, and my reading contributed to their writing success. However, my reading did not contribute to my writing success.

Medium is TikTok

Consider the Medium platform, the TikTok for writers. Many hours spent trolling the “recommended” readings. Article after article, tip after tip, stimulating every emotion on how to be better at my passion.

Then the perfectionist revealed itself. These top writers were making thousands. Scoring contracts, creating publications of their own, selling on how they did it, and I can too.

Watching everyone change their backgrounds to their creative logos and grow their followers. Followers on the Medium platform increase the likelihood of a writer making money from their work.

TikTok has a paid platform just like Medium. They pay users for their numbers and promotions. Like many have said, figure out the algorithm and success will follow.

So my mind stayed stuck in thinking great article=reading=$$.

Remembering the Purpose

Within the past two months the idea of not writing continued to bother my soul. Time spent trying to figure out what was the real reason to submit an article to a publication. If it was going to be for income then maybe figuring out the method to writing on Medium was worth the necessary investment.

But if income was not the necessity but instead a reward, then there should be nothing standing in the way of staying on this journey. The article Hello It’s Me, reminded me of the people who said, “Why are you not writing publicly”.

I enjoy writing for the sole purpose of inspiring thought in others, providing a perspective on life, love, and journeys. Many thoughts in my mind will not often make it to content form but if one article completes itself then that is one more I can say I have put out in the universe.