It’s been slightly underwhelming.

About a week ago, I started posting on Medium. I guess I got really excited about the possibilities of gaining a following and eventually making money from my writing, because I ended up posting six articles in the last week. One post was taken from this blog, one other post was taken from my cannabis blog, and the rest were written for Medium specifically. (In general, you can post content on Medium that’s already been posted elsewhere.)

I’m up to 5 followers, which is definitely not many. I’ve seen other Medium members post less and gain more followers, so I feel like I’m not necessarily doing everything right, just yet. Writing for Medium is different from writing for WordPress or my journal. So it’s going to take some getting used to.

I think I just got really excited and I’ve also been adopting a “quantity over quality” mentality when it comes to my Medium posts. Growing up, I remember being annoyed at my mom saying that I ”get carried away“ with things. But she had a point. I get super enlivened at the prospect of something new and exciting. And Medium is new and exciting to me.

I think that can be both a great thing and somewhat of a pitfall. It gives me energy to move forward with this new and exciting thing, but it sometimes ends in disappointment when my efforts don’t pan out and result in something great.

I think, truthfully, I need to get better at writing. I think I have the foundational skills that I need, but putting them into action is where I’m falling short. I need to spend more time editing my posts, instead of getting excited and posting them before they’re fully complete. I need to find my writing voice. I don’t know whether I want to be funny, straightforward, blunt, or something else. I’ve just been writing and hoping for the best, but I don’t think that’s enough if I want to be a successful writer.

Nevertheless, I love reading on Medium. I’ve found so many helpful posts there, and it’s really given me an idea of exactly what I should be aiming for with my writing. Some of my favorite people to follow on Medium are Zulie Rane, Elin Melaas, Sophia Metrakos, and Kelsey Kryger. I highly recommend you check them out and give them a follow.

If you’re new to Medium and you want followers, follow me! I’ll follow you back. 😊