How My Views On Writing Achievements Have Changed

I started writing regularly on Medium in January 2024. That means, as of today, I have been writing on here for almost five months.

So much has changed.

I’m going to focus on my views on what I have achieved as I think that has changed the most dramatically.

January 9th: I bought the Medium Partnership $5 a month thingy.

I saw that a lot of publications wanted the articles you submitted to be monetized and this required a partnership. So a partnership I bought.

I was more than sure that I would make 10 cents a month, if that. I was very nervous about handing over my visa card details and watched as that $5 disappeared.

For context — I live overseas and this was while I was in the middle of job hunting and house hunting. $5 felt like a lot.

I just wanted to give writing a proper go and see what I could make out of it.

My achievements in January that made me go giddy:

• I had a story published in Long. Sweet. Valuable.

• Someone clapped on my story.

• I received three comments, all on one story.

I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. People were noticing my stories and liked them. I had a hard time containing the excitement.

February Achievements:

• I started a column in The Diarist. Follow the tag ‘The Netherlands Diaries’ if you want to read as I spill the Dutch tea — sort of.

• I was accepted into a publication that required an application.

• I began writing daily.

After February I stopped having achievements.

I mean… People have noticed my work, I have 950+ people interested in my work — Crazy!! Thank you. People are subscribing to receive my stories in their inbox, and I had two stories boosted — again, Crazy!! Thank you.

Since March, I’ve been comparing my stats now to my stats in the beginning. Which I think is good, we want to continue building upon our skillset and pushing ourselves further.

But…

In my first month I gained 245 followers and the number of followers gained each month has been declining. Last month I only gained 166.

I mean… I realise I’m being a little dramatic here.

I think this is normal, I have seen other people — amazing writers — who slowed down with gaining followers when they were close to 1000 so I’m not too concerned.

Not that follower count is why I’m here.

Last month I had two stories boosted — thank you to Digital Global Traveler and Modern Women.

This month, no boosts. And I know boosts are not something to work towards — they’re not even something you can work towards (I think). But it still feels like I should be working harder, longer, more creatively…

My stories are doing way better than when I first started. Quite a few have over 1000 claps — thank you! — this is a huge ego cough..errr confidence boost.

The biggest thing that is making it hard to acknowledge how far I’ve come in my writing is that I feel like my stories are slowly drying up in my brain. My life is pretty routine at the moment. Work, write, work, write, work, write.

Not a lot going on to spark the ideas… But stay tuned! I have a few trips lined up to get the creative juices flowing again — and all we can hope is I lose all my money, fall on my face and get lost for ten days in the bush with no survival equipment. Just to make a good story.

I’ve achieved so much in such a short amount of time. It’s hard to be proud when you are constantly pushing yourself to be better and better and better.

It’s only when I write something like this that I stop and think about how far I’ve come.

I wrote a book. I wrote it and posted it to Story3.

Here is the link if you are interested:

A Bus Ride Away | Story3

Dive into the world created by Livvy_SkeltonPrice and decide how the plot develops.

story3.com

You get to choose your own adventure. It’s about a woman who goes travelling and wakes up on the side of the road with nothing but 3euro. You decide what she does next.

I have published 332 stories on Medium and have been accepted into multiple publications. I’ve been rejected by Globetrotters multiple times but that’s okay, that’s a goal to work towards. One day, Globetrotters, one day.

Being someone creative and someone who is constantly striving for self-improvement, it can be hard to see all the achievements you have.

I encourage you to stop and look at how far you’ve come. I bet it’s far and you deserve some appreciation.

If you choose to write a self-appreciation post, tag me in it :)

Give yourselves a pat on the back. No matter where you are at in your writing journey, you are sitting down and writing — that’s not easy. Well done!

Don’t forget to show yourself some appreciation.