Medium is full of self-help guides, blatant criticism, and little to no stories. Maybe it’s just my feed?
I fell in love with the art of writing from a very young age. I realized its impact very vividly. First through the literature book compendiums in my English class. It was wonderful. How worlds would emerge as the words kept entering my brain. Environments were painted with the richness of child-like wonder. Echoes of imagined voices animated the scene. And the excitement of adventure propelled me to read short story after short story from beginning to end. Even still, it wasn’t until the famed Harry Potter series that I truly experienced the magic of storytelling.
In hindsight, this is not entirely true. I come from a family of amazing story tellers. I don’t know how, but not one of my family members failed to reel you into their stories. Most of them were from the past. As I grow older, I appreciate them more and more. The wonder of magical realms is often more alluring to a child than the half-childproof tales of a Cuba that is long gone. 8-year-old me didn’t understand how to read between the lines. Didn’t understand the nuance of story telling even though I craved it so much.
I have been on a journey to becoming a better writer. Or rather, to resume where I left off many years ago. I began writing fan fiction at 8 years old, and even wrote my first children’s book then. Illustrated and all by my mom. I was a fan of generating and building worlds — and through my schooling that imperative led me to architecture. I absolutely love my career. I am excited to be part of it and actively participate within it at a high performing professional level. Yet, my desire and longing for the generation of the fantastical has chased me through nearly 15 years. What’s one more hobby on my plate? A lot. But I happen to really enjoy writing.
But why do I enjoy writing? Well. First, I want to share something I have noticed — when you become a writer, you read more. I love that. There are so many things to be said, to be learned, to be intellectually experienced. The challenge of channeling your knowledge through coherent writing is what makes the consumption of said knowledge so rewarding. Or at least, that is how I am experiencing it now.
I read about 3–8 Medium articles a day on average. Some days I read more. Some days I don’t read at all. I am fully aware that my experience is biased by my interests and reading history. That said, I have noticed a trend that most new and older writers are too focused on making money. They are focused on going viral. Focused on making it big. They are not focused on writing and sharing stories. Myself included. While I try to include a sliver of my perspective in all my articles, looking back, they mostly seem devoid of soul.
Who cares about top ten tips on how to write well? Who cares about your stats? Who cares how much money you made doing the one thing that only you can do? I don’t. Tell me your story — I’ll extrapolate the lessons through my own cognitive capacity. Let’s stop treating readers like they are morons. Let us actually engage their frontal cortex. Let us give our readers something to dissect and think about.
Just a thought.
