Other Medium Writers Are Your Colleagues, Not Competitors

A subtle reminder to myself and an anonymous declaration of admiration to the writer who I used to envy

Fictional illustrated characters — Image courtesy of the Author

Amid the pandemic, desperation brought me back to Medium. I had written the sporadic post, only to disappear for months on end. Now I was back, and I was on a mission. The intention was not to steal your followers (it still isn’t) or make bank (would be nice, but still haven’t), but to see what could happen. Little did I know how I’d be facing my insecurities along the way. Here’s a piece on coming to terms with “the competition”.

Envy or admiration?

Before I decided, “I’m going to be a Medium writer!” I never really checked my stats, claps, views, or reads. I didn’t need to check comments; there were barely any.

As I started to spend more time on the platform, I also started paying more attention to engagement metrics. People took some time out of their day to leave a comment. It was only common courtesy to reply. One of those comments was from a fellow newbie writer who wrote me something kind. I replied and went ahead to check out their profile. What I discovered was an interesting person who had picked up the Medium pen not so long ago.