Is Oversaturation Hurting Your Writing?
We've always heard to write often on Medium...was it all a lie?
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
This post may appeal more to writers than readers, but if you are a fan of my work, read on. There are some juicy bits here for you too.
So, as a Medium writer and one who writes frequently on the platform, I have suspected for some time that perhaps we’ve been lied to. The message has consistently been to write often and stick with it, but if you take a look at some of the highest-paid writers there—they are not writing several times a day like they were a few years ago.
Turns out—you can make just as much money writing a lot less for the platform.
This has been true for me as well, an average-but-steady earner on the platform. So concerned am I right now, that I feel a post is necessary here, just to show some of the stories I’ve posted in May—that are getting lost in the huge sea of words that is the creative writing giant of Medium.com.
And they are great posts. People are responding so well to them. I poured my heart into them. And yet, the feed is so flooded, they aren’t finding the readers as they should. Even one I put into one of the largest publications on Medium—The Ascent (Now called Ascent Publication) is hardly being read.
But those who read are responding well? So, why the flops? I think it is due to oversaturation. I’ll know later on as I am adopting a new strategy for June and July. Stay tuned!
Here are my TOP five articles from May that are falling mysteriously through the cracks.
Five:
This one was curated in reading, creativity, and self—and published in The Ascent, one of the largest Medium publications. It tells the story of a creative mind, bent toward reading, but struggling so hard against all the inner chatter…perhaps you can relate to this hyperactive squirrel-brain struggles? When reading is hard but you know you must; this story is told in a creative/nonfiction essay form which lends to the story-like element. The few people who have read it are responding very well to it.
Four:
One poem this month was published in Scribe, a large publication that I am happy to be a part of—and the poem was ignored by both curators and readers. I was rather proud of the poem and feel it is a quality piece—what do you think?
Three:
Curated in Self, this post was featured in a brand new publication called Beautiful You, which may be why the story is getting so few reads. It is a rather personal ugly-ducking kind of story that I think people will relate to if they take the time to read. It was a little embarrassing to write, but I am so happy to have finally told some of this!
Two:
Curated in Pets and Non-fiction, this was the hardest piece I have written in many years. It brought back a lot of difficult memories and to be honest—I was rather surprised to see it do so poorly. I had thought it viral-material-potential. Poor dog—maybe someday, someone will care about her story as much as I sure do. (My apologies, also, for the graphic nature of the story but it could not be told any other way.)
Interesting note: This story was rejected by FOUR publications. I then self-published and the story received curations. Without a publication home, the story will likely fade away, despite the mental-health stir it caused me all week as I got it written.
NUMBER ONE:
This is my favorite piece of the month.
Another pet piece, this one broke my heart to write—and people are loving the story, although reads are far too low for a tale of this depth. Curated in pets (yes) and Humor (what the hell?), this heartwrenching story turns a listicle format into the weaved-in story of a dog’s end-of-life tale. Not where I meant for the article to take me, but it went there. And tore hot tears from my face. I think the story really needed to be told. But humor? You decide:
One last mention—and perhaps the biggest surprise of the month was a triple-curated piece in The Writing Cooperative, that seems to be getting less views than I expected.
The article is called: SEO Tricks You Need to Make More Money With Your Writing and I had hoped it would be a heavy-hitter for me this month. Perhaps the story will go on to have a long-earning life.
So, my question to you is this: when you oversaturate your blog or Medium profile with post after post after post, do you find that the individual posts don’t have the time to “take-off?” Maybe your readers get lost in a swim of too much stuff to read? I’d love to know your thoughts either as readers or as writers.
My plans for June are to pull the reins back a little and focus on less content while maintaining or raising the bar on quality. We’ll see how that goes on payday, right?
Thank you to all of you who read my work and make it possible for me to live my dream!
Love in words,
Christina
You make an excellent point. I think the other side of the argument is that posts keep on moving. So if you’re not putting out enough content you cease to remain current. Your old posts get lost in a sea of new posts from other people.
Personally I tried a whole month of writing everyday. While it was an excellent exercise in building a habit, it left me exhausted. I will admit though that I got more views that month.
I suppose finding the right balance is the key.