Medium. You glorious, glittery trashfire of a platform.
Home to thinkfluencers, self-help gurus, techbros, and the occasional writer who actually gives a damn about the craft.
But mostly, it’s become an ouroboros of writers writing about how to succeed at writing on Medium.
Scroll through the hallowed halls of Medium these days and what will you find?
A metric fuckton of posts with titles like:
“How I Made $10,000 on Medium Last Month With This One Weird Trick”
“The Ultimate Guide to Gaming the Medium Algorithm to Score Fat Stacks”
“Medium is Screwing Over Writers Again With These Latest Changes”
It’s a cavalcade of craven capitalism and crybaby complaining.
The actual WRITING on Medium has become secondary to the constant meta-discussion about the platform itself.
You know what’s sexy? Actually giving a shit about the CRAFT of writing.
Spilling blood on the page to tell a kickass story or share an idea that matters.
You know what’s about as sexy as a bucket of lukewarm turtle barf?
Endlessly prattling on about how to optimise yourself to make a quick buck off your “content.”
Sure, some of the criticism of Medium is valid.
The overlords keep changing the rules on us poor writer peasants, tilting the game in favour of shameless grifters and away from those who want to create something of substance.
It’s frustrating as hell.
But instead of bitching about it or trying to hack it, maybe – just maybe – focus on actually becoming a better goddamn writer.
Tune out the noise, hit the keys, and put something original and worthwhile out into the world.
THAT is the only “one weird trick” that has ever mattered.
So to conclude my little rant:
Fuck the algorithm, and fuck writing for robots instead of humans.
Tell your story, sing your song, and to hell with all the rest.
The cream always rises, motherfuckers.
Get to work.
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Stephen Walker