Funny how we start expecting things even when we tell ourselves not to — Just a few days ago I wrote about showing up for two years before expecting profits. And yet, here I am, slightly disappointed. Why? Because I’ve been making pennies per day on Medium. Don’t Worry About a Writing Platform, Do This Instead No matter which way you go, only one thing mattersmedium.com I mean, I joined the Partner Program in July… that’s right, just a couple of months ago…

In fact, that’s how I’ve built an audience and made a living with my writing — Few writers can make a full-time income with their words alone. And even if they do, it likely took them a while to get there. Most of us? We write and sell. That’s how we make a living off our words. And to sell a thing, you need an audience…

Many full-time creators won’t shut up about batch creation. In theory, I get it. You create weeks' worth of stuff in advance to stay on track with your publishing schedule. In theory, yes, I get that. But my personal reality is this: I wake up thinking the first thing I’d…

And why perhaps you should too — I’ve been thinking about writing this for a few days now, and then yesterday morning I opened up Medium to see the exact topic written by none other than a much better and more established writer than myself: Benjamin Davis. What’s worse, he said what he said much more eloquently…

Memoirs or content or something else —whatever it is you write, the only thing that matters is that you’re a writer — I don’t care what you write; only that you write. You’re a writer. …

Racism is all-consuming, if you let it — There was a time when I looked at bad behavior as just that — bad behavior — unless it was a “Go back to India,” from a yelping white lady or a “Fucking immigrants!” from a cranky old white man. It had to be obvious to be racist — the…

A quick hack for coming up with daily story ideas — Here’s a quick and easy way to come up with Medium stories: Go for a long walk (or a run) without your earbuds. Leave the Swift and the BTS home and walk solo with nothing but the company of your mind, and observe the bullshit commence. And what do we…

Or a genre for the matter — So, here’s a reality check. I still don’t know what kind of “writer” I wish to be. I’ve been writing all my life. I wrote parts of a fantasy novel when I was 11 or 12. A poem or two around the same time. Got depressed (yes, I was depressed…

Any other writer here in love with long and hot showers? — Fresh water is exceedingly rare these days and yet, I can’t stop taking hot and long showers. I’ve even cut down on how often I take a shower (three times a week feels just fine; I’m not a heavy sweater, so it works out somehow) just to avoid wasting water. …