I recently came back to Medium after a long period away. My only intention was to read what other people have posted, but after reading a few hundred articles, I have to say this.
But first, a disclaimer.
I have been guilty of this as much as anyone else on this platform, so this is not a judgement. I’m sharing with you what I recently learned from Writing for Busy Readers (not an affiliate link).
Here it is: Being a successful online writer (especially on Medium) is, above all else, about respecting your readers.
Why you should respect your readers
It’s easy to think that your reader is not paying an upfront cost to read your work (even though many are, because most stories on Medium have a paywall).
The reality, however, is that the reader often gives you their most valuable resources when they read your work: time and attention.
Sure, your story may only be a 3-minute read, which is not a lot to ask if you ignore the fact that millions of other stories are on this platform. And if you ignore the fact that this is just one of the thousands of other platforms fighting for your reader’s attention.
