Ten Lessons I Learned Publishing My First 100 Medium Stories

Medium is a unique platform with its own method of recognizing interesting stories and rewarding creators. Unlike other social websites, there aren’t a whole lot of influencers who seem to define what success looks like on Medium. There are some people who are quite popular, and depending upon your niche, you may associate Medium with a couple names. One thing I can guarantee: I’m not one of those people.

I’ve been publishing on Medium for about three years now. I started in 2018, but my first year and a half were really inconsistent. In the middle of 2019, I was taking classes and wanted to improve my digital presence and reach as a writer. So, I started to post more on Medium which allow me to learn more about the platform. This time I became more consistant. I’m not a daily writer, but I’ve averaged at least one story a week.

As of early 2021, I have successfully published 100 stories on Medium (well, 101, but who’s counting). Throughout this time, I’ve learned a lot about the platform. I’ve established some sense of identity, and I feel I approach each article with more realisitic expectations. That said, there are also areas that still have some mystery and I don’t think I’ve cracked the code to becoming the face of Medium.

Now that I am working on my second hundred Medium posts, I approach each article with information I’ve learned from the first hundred. These lessons shape my identity on Medium, and will guide the ways I publish in the future.

1. You Don’t Need to Write About One Topic, But You Can’t Write About Everything

If you look at Medium writers who have thousands of followers, they usually have some kind of an identity. However, it seems these people sprinkle in some variety to their writing every now and then. As long as these articles are rooted in personal interest then it’s usually doesn’t hurt them as a writer.

When I started writing on Medium, I went in with the mindset that I’d write about anything I want. My early articles are related to music, lifestyle, product reviews, technology, and life experiences. As I wrote more, I started to narrow down my interests and focus more on products and branding.