Don’t Chase the Medium Money Trail

Just write what you know

Photo by JoelValve on Unsplash

Once again, I started writing a Medium article and got stuck. After all, I want to write the next viral article. *insert eye roll here*

You know the feeling.

As I scrolled through the different featured topics and publications, I sighed in frustration. Sure, I could write something about love or productivity or technology, and see if that gets me anywhere. I could try to get into a new publication, or write an article for one I’m already part of.

But the more I tried to think of ways to make my writing fit into dozens of molds, the more frustrated I got. It just wasn’t . . . Me.

I’ve been using Medium wrong

Instead of giving, I’m trying to take. Instead of contributing, I’m trying to earn. I wasn’t thinking about what I should write to help people — I was thinking about what I could write that would help me.

Now, I’ll be the first to say that there’s no problem with earning money from Medium. I’m living like a queen off of my combined $8 earnings from my first two months.

But earning money isn’t the point.

The point of Medium is to be a space where writers and experts in their field can contribute to…