Has anyone here posted on Medium before?

[Num7]

Hey!

I'm looking for people who have experience posting on Medium.

I'm thinking of doing a little experiment. I'd post a series of many blog articles on Medium about nostalgia, the early Internet, old video games, movies, and such. I'd try to be constant in quantity and quality.

Then, I'd document (probably on a weekly basis) how many views I get, and how much revenue it generates. I expect nothing, to be honest, but I'd like to be surprised. My income will probably be in writing experience, rather than money.

I've seen people say that they're able to make money on Medium, and it kind of puzzles me.

Okay, why do I want to do this, you'll ask. For the money? As I already said, I don't expect my posts to generate money. Or perhaps they'll generate $0.04 after 3 months. Probably.

I want to do it because I've been slowly gravitating toward writing more and more over the past couple of months. And I like it. It feels pretty good and I think my process is getting better and better. November is the month of Nanowrimo, an event that encourages writing. Therefore, I've been bombarded by articles about writing, getting better at writing, tools that'll help you write, etc. As I said, it has inspired me over time and helped me upgrade my writing process.

At some point, I'd like to attempt writing a short sci-fi story or something. The idea is imprecise for now, but I see it as a long-term goal of sorts. Something I might like to accomplish.

That's why I'd want to try it out.

So if you have past experience with posting on Medium, let me know, I'd be curious to exchange with you about it. Feel free to share your experiences here.

Thanks!

--Num7

 

[Num7]

It turns out that in early 2022, Medium added a 100 followers requirement in order to become a partner. In other words, you need 100 followers on Medium before you can generate any revenue from your articles.

It doesn't discourage me or anything, it'll just make it way longer to get somewhere interesting. I might still do it. The journey will be about gaining followers, rather than generating revenues.

After all, it doesn't cost anything to try it out. I'll see.

 

[MODAT7]

I think I've been to Medium maybe once or twice in relation to some web searches, so I can't comment on that part. With a quick look, most stories seem to be a 3-5min read, so they'll be short. If one of your listed topics goes long, split it into a 2 part or maybe make a series out of it.

At some point, I'd like to attempt writing a short sci-fi story or something. The idea is imprecise for now, but I see it as a long-term goal of sorts. Something I might like to accomplish.

Whatever your story idea, make a directory on your computer and start filling it with text files:
* Describe your characters. What makes them tick? What is their back story? Where are they going?
* Describe the basics of your universe. Is it in space, on land, cyberpunk?
* Describe the major events in the universe (such as a war, planetary impact, invasion, colonial uprising) that helps shape the characters into who they are before the first story.
* Describe the antagonists, where they come from, where they are now, where they're going.
* If space, describe your ships, how they work, what they're fueled with, rockets vs. field propulsion, etc...
* If there are action sequences, describe the weapons and how they work (similar to above). Are blades a super strength metal or a beam saber (like a light saber)? How many shots do the blasters have before having to be recharged or have a power pack swapout?
* How smart is the technology? AI levels, or AI's banned? Robots to build cities and ships? Does this make humans lazy?
* With scifi and technology, start simpler than you can imagine so you have an arc of enhancing the tech in later stories. This also leaves room for prequels.

I don't tend to write much, but what I listed kinda comes out of my film degree and how others tend to screw up so badly. So, keep some notes on other stories/movies that you like or hate and what they did right or wrong.

If you start getting your ideas down now, you'll have a very solid universe that doesn't "reboot" every other story. You'll also know where you came from and where you're taking the story in the long run... and the overall story arc doesn't have to end.

As you start documenting your ideas, you'll come across multiple story ideas that you'll want to do. Just take notes in another text file and keep building the universe. Later on when you're doing the actual writing, if you ever hit "writer's block", all you'll have to do is come back to your ideas and just flesh something out. If you get several story ideas done now, you'll find out you'll need to fill in the universe more, and you can do this without constant reboots in the already published material (Hollywood really needs to pay attention to this part).

Eventually you'll get so much done that the first story will practically write itself and mostly be done. You'll probably reach an OCD point where you'll go nuts if you don't publish something. At that point, you're probably ready.

While you hinted at "short" stories, you can start out with multiple short stories of different events in the same universe. This offers consistency to the readers, and they don't have to relearn everything with each new story. You don't have to reinvent the universe for each story, unless you're bored and that's your actual goal.

That's my $0.03 (inflation adjusted). Have fun with it since there's no pressure at this stage.

 

[MODAT7]

One more thing I just thought of that Hollywood keeps screwing up is the big reveal. By "big", I mean big, something universe changing or maybe killing off a main character (usually in the last act). Something that "big" needs to be hinted at in earlier stories to work into it... also somewhat avoiding the "push the magic button" syndrome that Trek often suffers from. Good lead ins will hint around the "event" in different ways but won't be obvious of what the "event" really is. When reading/watching the story again, the hints then become obvious and logical. When you're building your universe up and setting up the various stories, this becomes much easier than figuring out how to do "something" at the very last minute, and then beating it into the story to fit.

That's another $0.01 thrown in at no extra charge.

 

[Num7]

@MODAT7 Thank you for all the advice and info, I'll keep it in mind when I'm ready to commit.

I had a vague idea that using different world-building techniques, character sheets and such would help me write faster. As you said, if done correctly, it can make the story write itself to some extent. Pretty neat, man.

Huge thank you for sharing all these tricks.