Using Medium for Writing

I love to write and write pretty regularly. Many times, on my day off, I take my Chromebook with me and drive to any one of a group of…

I love to write and write pretty regularly. Many times, on my day off, I take my Chromebook with me and drive to any one of a group of libraries in Massachusetts to work on my latest creation. As one who preaches, I write a homily every week. Presently, I am working on a series of research articles on the origins and mechanics of genocide and how to recognize them and prevent them. However, notice that little of what I write actually ends up on Medium.

I love this website and describe it as YouTube for writers. I always add there are no videos, but like YouTube, Medium is artists posting their creations, in this case — writing. I read many of the articles and stories of all genres and perspectives. I also write stories that I post here, but most of what I write never makes it to Medium.

I am a niche writer by virtue of my profession. Medium is a general website and what I write is not really for a general audience. I write for a specific Catholic audience. When my material is more general I will post it on Medium, but much of it is not.

However, Medium helps me to write what I do for other venues. Whether it is focusing on editorial and writing tips or reading opinions from those who are outside of my niche or even antagonistic to it, I can improve my writing, even if I do not post a lot of it on this site.

Therefore, Medium helps me to be a better writer on this and other venues.

I see writing as a sculptor sees his or her own art. Writers take an idea, translate it into words and then through the editing and revision process we form it and shape it from a jumble of an idea into a full fledged article. It is a wonderful and invigorating process. What sculptors do with a block of marble we do with words.

The style of writing I use — which requires a employing terms carefully chosen for their specific meanings, means that I will take a lot longer to write something than many other writers who can put out three articles a day. I also have a day job which I will not quit, so making money in my writing is not my first priority. Just writing is my priority. So, I am different than many of the more curated writers on Medium.

Some of this is due to my own nervousness as well. Like many other writers, I love to write and get nervous when others are reading my writing. But I will not stop writing. I need to get my stuff out there to those who are interested in reading it, if for no other reason because I took so much time to write it.

Medium does help me to write, even if I do not always write here.

photo: Anton Laupheimer (1848–1927) [Public domain] via wikimedia