A Hidden Benefit of Being an Unknown Writer on Medium

No new writer should rush to grow big quickly, here’s why.

*steps up on soap box*

The other day, I was reading one of my favorite Medium writers, Linda Caroll. If you haven’t read her work before, she writes in a friendly, chatty tone while generously dotting her posts with brilliant tips for new writers; especially those who are new to Medium. She also writes about the history of women, weird historical stories about murderers and insane asylums, and she’s the go-to person to learn about upcoming writing competitions with big cash prizes. Anyway, go follow her.

In the post I was reading, she was trying to make an appeal to new writers who attempt to use tricks to lure bigger, more successful to follow their work. Those tricks are often desperate and annoying and she made an excellent case for why new writers should cut it out. But there was something unsaid in her post that got me thinking. New writers are blessed with the space and freedom of being relatively invisible, which gives them the chance to totally screw up without everyone watching.

I am not a new writer. I’ve been writing professionally for over a decade and if you Google my name, you’ll find plenty of bylines at newspapers, magazines, and a few anthologies. I have a lit agent who is working hard to help my first novel go to market while I write the second project. I’ve been around for a while.