Having no one reading my Medium writing is awesome

The other day I wrote about the daunting challenge of writing on Medium. You can try sticking to a process but, unlike with most other endeavors in life, it’s nearly impossible to target a result. Say a heavy person wants to drop 120 pounds. It might be a painfully long journey, but it’s still possible to have goals; even with setbacks, there is a “baseline” plan to refer to.

I attempted writing in the past. A year ago I tried distributing a Substack letter to my network of friends, colleagues, ex-colleagues and acquaintances. Some unsubscribed, some said words of encouragement, and even started paying me. I consider myself a risk-taker, but, boy, that was a nerve-wracking experience. I was writing an eclectic mix of stories, sharing my personal experiences. It was like walking naked and having people comment on the size of my dick… Yeah, for some reason, the level of anxiety was that high. Abandoning my Substack email came as a huge relief, though even that final act had a downside. I had gotten people’s attention, then gave up.

With Medium — no problem. There is something to like about the black-hole-ness of it. I am trying to write every day. I experiment with different stories and tags. I am not trying to get anyone’s attention. Of course, I check my stats — all the time. It’s nice to see occasional mysterious “internal” readers getting through to my story through some god-knows-what-algorithm (or should I call it “medium” instead of “algorithm”?). An occasional follower or clap — it’s nice.