via Unsplash
You may have noticed a silence lately emanating from my blog. Words missing. Subscribers slipping. A blog on the verge of extinction. But, it couldn’t be the farthest from the truth.
I’ve just migrated over to the Medium blogging platform that has a wider audience than mine. Medium is a community within many communities. Topics abound from humor to politics to inspirational thinking. Whatever your interests Medium has a publication for you.
Each publication is an established platform with built-in followers. If accepted as a writer, publications provide a much larger audience than your blog, which in many cases is just one voice among all the Internet chatter.
A Petri Dish for Ideas and Goals
Besides the huge platform that Medium offers, it’s also a petri dish for ideas and goals. By choosing to write for a particular magazine, you are narrowing your focus, embracing what topics you enjoy writing the most.
My blog has been a quandary for me lately. Stuck on the point of my focus. Many days flailing on the keyboard in the hopes of my fingers showing me the way to my goals. But growth and focus aren’t a quick fix. It’s more of a slow grind, a slothly approach toward your prime directive in writing that stands beneath the fancy trimmings on top. The prime directive being my love for writing. Everything else is wallpaper.
Once you have the desire to write, the willingness to defer to the obstacles in your way and study them instead of repelling them will nudge you closer to your goal, as long as your willing to put in the time and grind.
The Blogging/Writing Tug of War
I often question what it is that I seek for my writing. The immediate gratification from a blog post or the slow burn of desire involved in a longer piece of work. Since I started blogging in 2009, I’ve had a tug of war inside myself between blogging and writing.
For some writers, blogging becomes part of their goals of work already produced. Book writers write about the process. Others write about subjects that are geared to their books. But for a writer without a book and with many ideas on a variety of topics, the search for your blog’s identity can be more convoluted.
That’s how Medium can help. When you choose the tags that interest you while setting up your profile, you get a sense of what your interests are. My interests are humor, satire, politics, writing, and culture. Noticeably the topics on the sidebar of my blog. So, maybe I’m not as off-goal as I had thought.
But then the question: How do I synthesize my writing on Medium and my blog? Again, if you are a writer with a book, you can direct readers from Medium back to your blog to sign up for a mailing list. If you’re a writer with a book, that is.
So, how would someone like me without a book use Medium in conjunction with my blog?
One answer might be to publish new material on Medium (because new material is prime real estate there) and then repost it to your blog.
When I first started writing on Medium, I reposted articles from my blog to Medium, which is a huge advantage of writing on that platform. Although reposting writing from your blog to Medium doesn’t excite Medium’s algorithm as much as new material.
But another approach could be to use my blog as a publication unto itself. Write something different here than what I write on Medium. Another vexing predicament. There always seems to be another obstacle around the bend.
As I write this blog post, I even consider not publishing here at all and only airing my thoughts on Medium. The thought still lingers. A decision hangs with the fixtures. What to do? Where to do it? Since this is a WIP post, I’ll provide the thoughts while you provide the answers you’ve found helpful in your own journey.
If you thought you would find answers to your own writing problems here, you might be disappointed to find more questions instead. But I thought by thinking out loud about the problems I face in my own blogging/writing journey, I may collaterally help you work out your problems, too.
Your feedback would be most helpful if you’ve been able to get a grip on the blogging/writing thing.
Are we having fun yet?
I prefer to write a new article to Medium. Reposting your blog posts to Medium might work, but as much as possible, I want my articles to stay in my blog.
I’ve been writing new posts as well as reposting on Medium. I’ve been trying to build my writing platform. Reposting on a larger platform gets more eyes on my work.
I’m still trying to figure out what it is I write. : )
Hi,
i just want to say thanks it was awesome information you have shared i have been reading many post but the way of your explanation is mind blowing keep writing great stuff i will be back for more information. keep writting the great stuff.
I really do love the way you handle your beliefs and ideas, this is indeed a hell of a post. For me, I have a preference for writing newer article over renewing the older once.
Hi Lauren,
Nice post!
I think publishing your original work on a third-party platform can be quite risky because tomorrow they can change their policy or ban you if you accidentally violate their terms.
Also, it’s not good for SEO. Instead, you can publish fresh content on your blog and then use Medium’s import tool to republish it.
I think i’m going to focus on churning out fresh content on my own blog, enjoyed this article so thank you very much.
Also i love the dog haha
Thanks,
Nick
Got to read a new information, your way of explaining is very good thank you
Your article helped me to find some ideas and inspiration. Thank you!
certainly like your website but you need to take a look at the spelling on quite a few of your posts Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very troublesome to inform the reality nevertheless I will definitely come back again
Thank you.
Hi Lauren,
Nice post!
I think publishing your original work on a third-party platform can be quite risky because tomorrow they can change their policy or ban you if you accidentally violate their terms.
Also, it’s not good for SEO. Instead, you can publish fresh content on your blog and then use Medium’s import tool to republish it.
Promo Code Studio is my go-to destination for unlocking incredible discounts! The platform’s user-friendly interface and real-time updates ensure I never miss out on savings.Their extensive range of coupons made finding the perfect deal a breeze. Kudos to Promo Code Studio for revolutionizing my shopping experience.