What I’ve Learned In Two Years Writing Full Time
To celebrate my two-year write-a-versary, I share tips & top stories
Oops, I did it again
I only kinda-sorta missed my two year anniversary of writing on Medium. Last year I was a full week late, this year I’m only a day late, so… y’know. Progress.
I’ll share what I’ve learned in two years, summed up in my top four writing tips, as well as a list of my 10 most popular articles in 2022.
What I’ve Learned
1. Passive income is a misnomer
When I began on Medium, people talked up the idea of earning a passive income. Apparently you write some stuff, get lots of followers, and then sit back and watch the money roll in.
Ha! Yeah, right.
Nothing in life is free and writing is certainly no exception. In fact, writing is probably one of the hardest ways to earn money, especially when you’re not a professional writer, or an already well-known published author.
When it comes to writing online, you have to write regularly, lest you drown in the ever-growing pool of articles floating around the Internet. You have to write regularly to keep yourself visible and relevant.
There is nothing passive about it.
2. You really do need to write a lot
Not only do you need to write daily to keep yourself visible online, you also need to write every day because amateur writing sucks.
Your writing has to be good enough that people want to really spend time with it, learn from it, be entertained by it, and share it.
When I go back and read my earlier writing, I can definitely see where my ideas were good, but my writing needed some polishing. I am fortunate because I’ve had several years of post-secondary education, am a major bookworm, and reading and practice both make for better writing.
Write, then write some more.
When you’re not sure whether you have much of an idea, start writing. If it fizzles, you know you need to go read some more, or try a different idea. If once you start writing, the ideas start flowing, then you know you’re on the right track.
Write a lot. Read a lot. Sorry, there’s no easier way to earn money writing, you actually have to work at it.
Don’t rely on the online groups for views or earnings. They’re a great way to share stories, for sure, but going around clapping and commenting on each other’s stories is not going to do the trick.
Your writing has to be good enough that people want to really spend time with it, learn from it, be entertained by it, and share it.
Write a lot. Read a lot.
If you don’t love both, you’ll want to seek out other means of earning money, because you’re wasting your time.
3. FFS, proofread, people!
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an article submitted to me, or have read someone else’s story, and found a multitude of typos. I’m not saying I’ve never published writing with mistakes, I certainly have, but they’re very few and far between.
I write an article and save it. I go do something else for a little while, then come back and read it over. I get it, it’s hard. Our eyes glaze over and we tend to miss our errors because we’ve read the same sentences repeatedly.
Here are some tips:
Have a friend or fellow writer proofread and provide feedback (and offer to return the favour for them)
Copy and paste the article into a word processing document, check spelling and grammar, and change the font
Reading the article on a different device or changing the font will help you catch errors you were scanning past before, because your brain will register them as new
Bad writing can make even the most fascinating topics hard to read about, so take your time and make the effort.
4) Be authentic
Be yourself. Write with an authentic voice, rather than trying to be somebody you’re not, or someone you think people are looking for. (Trust me, someone’s already written those).
Don’t look at what’s already popular and try to emulate that, because someone already did it better — that’s why it’s popular. Write something you’re good at, something meaningful to you. Choose a topic about which you can write fervently and intelligently.
People can smell a phony a mile away — (especially we neurodivergent folk, we’ve got amazing bullshit detectors).
Don’t look at what’s already popular and try to emulate that, because someone already did it better — that’s why it’s popular.
Be a little vulnerable, but don’t trauma-dump on your readers. Be passionate, but be careful not to turn your story into a rant. A bit of intensity is good, but your reader will want you to get to the point eventually.
Be real, be genuine, be honest.
My Top Ten Stories of 2022
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