Can you share your writing process? Maybe I can give some tips how to boost creativity & productivity.
My little ones will be on holiday in August. So what I'm doing is I'm writing 1-2 extra drafts each week, and then in August, I plan to post 3 instead of 4 articles per week, and use my drafts. So I'll only edit during their midday nap.
It helps to have a process that breaks writing down to super easy chunks: messy first drafts; then one or two revisions to "shape" the story; then a final revision for details + polishing the headline.
On days when I have more time, I'll write 3-5 first drafts, just writing all day, whatever comes to mind. Then when I want to post, I'll choose a draft and edit it, which usually doesn't take as long.
I've been writing daily on Medium since April 21st. In May I started earning, and earned $22 in a month, In June I earned $280, which I was happy with. July is looking to be around the same, hopefully.
But I'm wondering what I can do to go bigger. I'm only getting around 90 reads per day on Medium - I need more.
Do you have any advice for me as to how to scale up?
You seem to be doing great already! One-month growth from $22 to $280 is amazing—imagine if you keep up that trend ;)
So the first thing I’d recommend is patience and appreciating yourself what you’ve achieved.
Here are two more things I’d recommend that will boost your results long term:
1. Write a bit longer posts. I looked at your profile and most of your stories are up to 4min reads, some are 2min. If I were you, I’d bring posting down to 4-5 times per week but work to develop the stories a bit more.
2. You need more pubs. I saw you’re published in Illumination, but there are many more you could approach (and if you have a bit longer stories, your chances of getting published will be higher)
3. Last but not least, I’d work on writing better headlines. Try writing at least 10 headlines for each article before you choose one. Do you use a headline analyzer? I can recommend a few.
A good idea for finding the right publications is to see which writers are successful in your area of expertise, and see the publications they write for.
Good advice already. Looking forward to more tips Maya. I was on a roll, but right now it's 2 months of holiday for my little one and it's SO hard to focus and write when he's around. And by the time he's in bed, I'm just so tired. A little scared at the moment that I won't be able to produce much in the next weeks. :(
I wrote a reply for you in the comments, instead of in the Replies, but anyway, I'm sure you can see it.
Let me know if it's helpful, and also, I want to say, don't beat yourself up. You're still getting used to this, building habits, finding what works for you. I've started and stopped multiple times, I've changed topics, I'm all over the place, but I've still attracted followers and made money, so don't worry about it. The great thing about the internet is that you can't really make an irreversible mistake. :)
Hi Catherine,
Can you share your writing process? Maybe I can give some tips how to boost creativity & productivity.
My little ones will be on holiday in August. So what I'm doing is I'm writing 1-2 extra drafts each week, and then in August, I plan to post 3 instead of 4 articles per week, and use my drafts. So I'll only edit during their midday nap.
It helps to have a process that breaks writing down to super easy chunks: messy first drafts; then one or two revisions to "shape" the story; then a final revision for details + polishing the headline.
On days when I have more time, I'll write 3-5 first drafts, just writing all day, whatever comes to mind. Then when I want to post, I'll choose a draft and edit it, which usually doesn't take as long.
Does that make sense? I hope it's helpful. :)
Hi Maya,
I've been writing daily on Medium since April 21st. In May I started earning, and earned $22 in a month, In June I earned $280, which I was happy with. July is looking to be around the same, hopefully.
But I'm wondering what I can do to go bigger. I'm only getting around 90 reads per day on Medium - I need more.
Do you have any advice for me as to how to scale up?
Thanks!
Hi Dave,
You seem to be doing great already! One-month growth from $22 to $280 is amazing—imagine if you keep up that trend ;)
So the first thing I’d recommend is patience and appreciating yourself what you’ve achieved.
Here are two more things I’d recommend that will boost your results long term:
1. Write a bit longer posts. I looked at your profile and most of your stories are up to 4min reads, some are 2min. If I were you, I’d bring posting down to 4-5 times per week but work to develop the stories a bit more.
2. You need more pubs. I saw you’re published in Illumination, but there are many more you could approach (and if you have a bit longer stories, your chances of getting published will be higher)
3. Last but not least, I’d work on writing better headlines. Try writing at least 10 headlines for each article before you choose one. Do you use a headline analyzer? I can recommend a few.
Hope this helps!
Maya
Thanks so much Maya!
The trend is showing zero signs of continuing - but yes, wouldn't it be nice?!
Thank you for your recommendations.
I wonder if you could point me in the direction of some appropriate publications? And yes please to some headline analyser apps.
Thanks again.
Hi Dave,
A good idea for finding the right publications is to see which writers are successful in your area of expertise, and see the publications they write for.
Here's my favourite headline analyser: https://www.monsterinsights.com/headline-analyzer/
One last question: was most of the $280 you made last month from one article?
Thanks!
Maya
Thank you for the advice re publications and the headline analyser pointer.
To answer your question, my top four articles last month earned:
$121.37
$76.84
$21.52
$18.82
The top three were all about productivity/PKM apps, interestingly. The top article still earns me around $1-1.50 a day.
Good advice already. Looking forward to more tips Maya. I was on a roll, but right now it's 2 months of holiday for my little one and it's SO hard to focus and write when he's around. And by the time he's in bed, I'm just so tired. A little scared at the moment that I won't be able to produce much in the next weeks. :(
Hey,
I wrote a reply for you in the comments, instead of in the Replies, but anyway, I'm sure you can see it.
Let me know if it's helpful, and also, I want to say, don't beat yourself up. You're still getting used to this, building habits, finding what works for you. I've started and stopped multiple times, I've changed topics, I'm all over the place, but I've still attracted followers and made money, so don't worry about it. The great thing about the internet is that you can't really make an irreversible mistake. :)