My Six Month Medium Review
Tags: Review, Creative Writing, Illumination, Progress

My Six Month Medium Review

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I joined Medium in June 2020. I was feeling a little tired by the repetitiveness of the days and saddened by the inability to meet up and continue my creative writing group. There had been various Medium posts on my news feeds for some time, but I hadn’t really grasped what Medium was until then.

I had been finding it hard to write. As many others have also discovered, the constant anxiety that the pandemic had brought into our lives made it difficult to take that leap from reality into the comforts of letting loose all those accumulated thoughts and hoped for pearls of wisdom.

What had I got to lose? Nothing. And so I signed up for the start of a journey into an unknown region.

At first, I simply read lots. I explored the vast numbers of pages and topics. I looked for a place that would be comfortable for me. I found Illumination and realised that the ethos of this publication met so many of my ideals that it would be a perfect home. And so it proved to be. One of the few publications that embraced every aspect of writing, particularly encouraged poetry, shouted out to writers from every possible background to share their words and experiences, and was a growing concern.

I began to make friends. I had found somewhere to spend time which felt good and, provided I didn’t read all the posts about Covid, gave me a haven away from the worries of the world.

I have never been one for blowing my own trumpet. I am happier trundling along in the background. I am not comfortable with having friends who are not really friends, having thousands of supposed followers, the artificial hype of social media. It seems to be an essential part of living these days. Not only must you be yourself, but you must also have an on-line persona. What I have discovered with Medium is that there is a genuine appreciation of each others writing which adds a personal value to the concept of followers.

By October I had posted many stories and was approached by Liam Ireland to consider joining the editorial team of Illumination. This has become a lifeline through the long, wet, autumn and winter so far. I love helping new writers make their mark. I get a perverse pleasure in identifying plagiarists and outing them. There is huge joy in discovering exciting, stimulating stories and I have found the other editors and Dr Mehmet Yildiz to be a delight to work with.

You may ask if I have made my fortune on Medium? Definitely not. The story that has earned the most is

How to Fill Your Store-Cupboard of Ideas | by Thewriteyard | ILLUMINATION-Curated | Oct, 2020 | Medium

and that earned the princely sum of $1.44.

The story that got the most views was ,

You Don’t Always Have to Be in Front | by Thewriteyard | ILLUMINATION-Curated | Medium

with 214 views.

Only one of my stories so far has been curated, and that was one I wrote for the publication Being Well .

How My Experiences in Medicine Induced an Underachievement Mindset | by Thewriteyard | BeingWell | Medium

Did that bring me fame? No, it did not. But it did help to boost my morale. 99 views, so hardly a success on the popularity front.