All the Things I’ve Done Wrong on Medium

I rarely write about Medium. I’m mostly here to laugh, be inspired, and connect with other writers, who I’ve come to think of as friends, even though we’ve never actually met. I feel like I know you through your words and that, above all else, is the reason I am still here.

I’ve read my share of those articles about how so-and-so made roughly the gross domestic product of Singapore writing on Medium using only her left hand at 2:13 PM on Tuesdays. I’ve never felt compelled to write one, though, and probably never will.

But there are a whole LOT of things I’m really good at doing wrong on Medium, which I’m happy to share! Here they are along with why I’d do most of them all over again.

Writing whatever the heck I feel like

I’ve written about everything from my struggles with OCD and anorexia, to love poetry, to 4-year-olds in time out. If something piques my interest or randomly pops into my head, I’ll give it a try. While I may not be raking in those sweet, sweet Medium dollars, I do have fun.

Being about as consistent as a drunken polar bear

Sometimes I post daily. Sometimes I post weekly or monthly or once or twice, I think, quarter-hourly. I’m all over the map. But I’m also a mommy, wife, a teacher, and a whole bunch of other things. So I post when I have time. I don’t want the stress of sticking to a schedule (and not following one helps keep Medium fun).

Not following everyone who follows me

I’m not saying it isn’t nice to receive a follow, and I definitely appreciate the heck out of everyone who likes my writing enough to follow me and read my work, but I don’t see it as the end-all, be-all of writing goals. I’m not going to follow someone just so they’ll follow me back. Just for fun, think about what that would look like in real life.

Me: Hey there! Where you headed ?

Suspicious other person: I thought I’d browse for some poetry books.

Me: Cool! I’ll just be standing right here behind you! And then maybe later you could follow me over to the humor section?

I’d rather engage with other writers, have a good time, and let the followers land where they may.

Checking my stats intermittently

OK, so I check them more like intermittent windshield wipers during a category 5 hurricane. It’s something I do when I’m avoiding what I really should be doing, which is writing or reading, but they do offer some interesting insights sometimes. Like that people really enjoy reading about my experience with brain zaps for some reason.

Shunning the email list

This is part stubbornness, part laziness, and probably part downright stupidity, but I don’t (*gasp!*) have an email list. I’ve been thinking about starting one, though.

Using a pen name

And rounding out this List-o-Wrongs is something I didn’t even think much about when I started here, but have come to regret, at least in part. I use a pen name. With all the rigamarole surrounding the changes to Medium’s terms and conditions lately, and many writers still thinking about jumping ship, I may unmask myself in the near future to make sure I can take my real name with me if the ship ever does go down. I’m still ruminating on that one. Stay tuned…

Thank you for reading! If I had an email list, you could sign up here!