Medium made me love writing again
Starting to write on Medium didn’t yet bring me the financial success I was searching on the platform. However, it brought me something way more valuable, it made me love writing again.
About two and a half months ago, I joined Medium. At the time, I had just finished boot camp in the Swiss army and was looking for a way to make some money. I stumbled upon Shelby Church’s video about Medium.
I started immediately after seeing the video. In my mind, I would do well very fast, because just before boot camp, I had finished a six-month internship at a newspaper as an advertising writer.
Well, I haven’t gone viral so far on Medium. My earnings are just enough to pay for the monthly membership. However, writing on Medium let me rediscover my love for writing itself. Something I thought, I had almost a year ago.
The beginning
I always liked writing and reading. Since elementary school, I was amazed by the works of great authors. The way their words could create entire worlds inside my head fascinated me.
Fast forward to high school, and while still being fascinated by the epic stories told by great authors like Tolkien, Rowling or Martin, I developed a deep affection for another style of writing. The short precise language of well-written newspaper articles began to drag me in. It was something much closer to me, I’ve never been the most creative, but I am very observant. I started to describe what I saw, whether that being sports or events on the news. Throughout my high school time, I refined my skills as a writer and always scored high in essays and other writing tasks in class.
I knew that after high school, I had to do a gap year to serve because it is mandatory in Switzerland.
Naturally, I decided to do something rooted in Journalism and applied for an internship at a newspaper. I got the job and was given a spot in the small advertising writing part of the newspaper. Not exactly what I had hoped for but an excellent chance nevertheless.
The Internship
When I first started working at the paper, I was thrilled. Even though there wasn’t much work because of the summer holidays, I had a fantastic start. Right off the bat, I could write my articles and visit customers alongside my boss.
Soon I could go to these meetings alone, and I would be responsible for their text’s on my own. I really enjoyed it the first few months of the job.
In the last six weeks, though, I wasn’t that motivated anymore. Writing became more and more of a burden to me. It became repetitive. Although we had a lot of work because Christmas was coming around, I had wasn’t satisfied anymore. I had seen all the ways of advertising different businesses. I wasn’t content with basically writing the same thing over and over again.
After all, the internship was an eye-opening experience for me. It showed me the ups and downs of advertising writing and being a journalist. Most of the time, I had a blast writing and working for the paper. However, in the end, it took away my love for writing.
The rediscovery
Once I finished boot camp, it was the middle of May. After five long months of no creativity and self-initiative, I was desperate to do something on my own terms again. Looking for ways to create money during the global pandemic brought me to Medium.
I started writing again. This time it wasn’t because I was fascinated by writing but because I wanted to earn money.
It didn’t take long for me to realise making money on Medium isn’t as easy as it seemed.
Writing, though, began to be easy and satisfying again. I could express my thoughts freely, a stark contrast to the internship where the customer said what he wanted to see on paper.
Sharing my thoughts with an audience that engages with the content I create feels fantastic. It made me fall in love with writing again.
Stay healthy, stay kind and stay safe out there.
Raffael
