Writing 100 Essays on Medium
From zero followers to breakout stories ~ one writer’s honest experience
“I didn’t set out to build an audience ~
I just kept asking questions,
and I couldn’t find any honest answers.”
The internet is noisy with hot takes and thin on verifiable facts.
Sometime around December of 2024, I realized that quickly answering a question on the internet just wasn’t the same as it used to be.
I’d have to read five or six articles, and then still end up digging into FRED or Census tables just to ground truth claims.
Eventually I decided to start writing the essays I was a searching for:
Clear, sourced explanations.
Deeper than the single-stat stories clogging our feeds.
More readable than a journal article.
No followers. No plan. Just a list of questions ~
and the knowledge that, hey, *if it’s no good then who cares
anyway?*
So I asked myself,
“What do you have to lose?”
What follows is a brief narrative of my first year publishing essays, biographies, geopolitical analyses, and more on Medium.
I’ll present data pulled from the weekly emails Medium sends out and the internal stats found on my Medium stats page.
Note: This essay marks my one hundredth essay published on Medium!
A few quick stats before we get into the timeline:
- Total Views: 7,149
- Total Reads: 4,535
- Read Ratio: 63.4%
Here’s how that performance looked week by week — a steady climb with some big jumps after breakout pieces went live.
The line is jagged, not smooth ~ readers came in waves.
Breakouts show up as sudden leaps.
December 2024 ~ Starting Out on Medium with 0 Followers
I started out like most writers ~
Zero followers, no catalog.
Honestly, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to say.
I wrote about American National Politics, Household Debt in 2025, a truly novel concept “Natural Asset Companies,” and a fairly detailed breakdown of The National Flood Insurance Program (and why its failing.)
One of my favorite essays from my first month as a writer:
I found that I really enjoyed exploring ideas and concepts this way, so I joined Medium as a member in January and then I really started to dig in.
January 2025 ~ Finding My Writing Voice on Medium
In January, I wrote about whatever interested me.
From Why Obergefell will not be Overturned to The Death of Moore’s Law and The Political Economy of Airports ~ I was having a lot of fun exploring the internet and trying to find the truth… or something close to it.
The early posts were quiet. A handful of views.
A couple of reads here and there.
I don’t think I was even looking at the stats page on Medium at this point.
I was publishing to practice in public ~
structure an argument, keep the prose clean, and respect the reader.
I branched out ~ current events, technology, and legal battles. I tried my hand at writing something timely: Deepseek Disrupts AI.
I decided I needed to find my voice ~ something unique and interesting.
My publishing pace was uneven at first, with bursts of energy in February and March. This chart shows monthly and cumulative totals.
February & March 2025 ~ Publishing 20 Essays in a Month on Medium
In February I went all in: twenty essays in a single month.
No “hustle” for its own sake ~ just energy, curiosity, and a backlog of ideas.
I spent the month of February writing about The End of Federal Agency Deference, I asked whether DOGE’s actions were legal, and explained why americans feel so powerless over their data.
One standout story was a book review of The Little Prince:
Sometimes I would publish something that I was sure would take off, only for it to sit around collecting dust.
I started to look at Medium’s stats page and I noticed a few things.
Activity = Exposure
Each time I posted, older pieces picked up new reads.
Medium rewards writers who publish frequently.
I joined a Medium publication ~ and then I started my own:
I’m still publishing on The Balance Sheet!
It’s been a blast building my little publication from scratch.
Recently I added my first contributor to the pub: Ken Kau.
Spring 2025 ~ Building Consistency and Growing Readers & Traffic
I settled into an informal publishing schedule ~ 2 to 3 essays per week.
Some essays landed because they were timely. Others stuck because they answered questions ~ 25 people in America Google every day.
My most read piece to date got a whopping 1500 reads ~ most coming within the first few weeks after publishing.
That spike tickled me a bit and made me think
“Hey! Maybe I can be a writer…”
*Other essays started slower.* Some of them, like The Rise, Fall, and Reemergence of the R-Word and Why A Return to the Gold Standard would Break the Economy started to get a few reads every day or two but never “broke out.”
I tried publishing different kinds of stories like biographies:
And culture pieces:
Looking at a few broad categories, it became clear which kinds of essays drew the strongest response. For me, it was current events.
Breakouts vs Evergreen Essays ~ How Medium Stories Perform Over Time
*If you’re writing on Medium, it may help to think in two lanes.* The trick isn’t to pick one lane over the other, but to balance both.
Breakouts boost your reach.
Evergreens build your library ~ and keep people finding you long
after the headlines move on.
Breakouts ~ Boosters
Some essays are built to ride the wave of the moment ~ they’ll spike fast, get shared, and then disappear.
The geopolitical explainer Russia’s Slow Surrender became the most-viewed and most-read story in my catalog.
The historical explainer Nottoway Plantation Burns Down was a strong second.
The leaderboard below shows which essays broke through and carried much of the traffic across my catalog.
Evergreens ~ Builders
Others are built to last, drawing in readers steadily through search, recommendations, or ongoing relevance.
The Rise, Fall, and Reemergence of the R-Word didn’t spike ~ it simmered, steadily drawing new readers week after week.
Why a Return to the Gold Standard Would Break the Economy was another evergreen essay that slowly brought in reads and views over time.
Here’s how those different lifecycles look when charted side by side.
Key highlights:
- Russia’s Slow Surrender ~ 1,800 views, 1,500 reads, 83.3% engagement
- Nottoway Plantation Burns ~ 890 views, 577 reads, 64.8% engagement
- The R-Word ~ 536 views, 336 reads, 62.6% engagement
Views and reads compound when you show up, big spikes come from catching the right stories.
What Drives Traffic on Medium? Consistency and Timely Topics
Three patterns explained most of the traffic:
1) Publish consistently (And often)
2) Write about topics while people are searching for them.
3) Keep your essays in the 4–9 minute range
Medium seems to reward medium-length essays. This scatterplot shows how reads and views clustered most often between 4 and 9 minutes.
In my first nine months, my essays have drawn 7,149 views and 4,535 reads for an average read-through rate of 63.4%.
Did I go viral?
No.
Am I going to quit my day job?
Absolutely not.
Was it worth it?
Absolutely.
How Writing 100 Medium Essays Changed My Life and Skills
I found that as I published more essays, (perhaps no one will be surprised by this) the quality of my essays improved dramatically.
Writing in all areas of my life improved.
My ability to think and reason through complex situations improved.
Writing has made me a more interesting person to talk to.
Communication in my life has become richer and more dynamic.
And that’s the real case for starting a blog:
Becoming a writer enriches your life across the board.
Medium Growth Chart ~ How I Hit 100 Essays in 9 Months
I am honestly quite proud of my essays. The traffic has been fun to watch ~ pretty cool to think some people are finding my writing when they google “why don’t we go back to the gold standard.” I would describe overall traffic as modest but respectable for a new writer.
It isn’t a firework show ~ but the numbers keep moving up because my portfolio is built on well researched, nuanced essays covering modern topics of interest for the regular guy.
I wrote these essays to answer the questions that keep me up at night. I wrote them because I couldn’t find real answers to these questions online.
Ultimately, I did all this for just one reason: for my own satisfaction. And I believe thats why I was able to do it! I had a lot of fun ~ and I am officially a nerd.
If you’re thinking about starting a Medium account, I say go for it ~ but don’t expect overnight superstardom. Medium is not tik tok. But if you enjoy writing and you’re looking for a place to discuss ideas with a bit of nuance, Medium might just be the place for you in 2025.
Is Medium Worth It in 2025 for New Writers? My Experience
For me, yes it was.
- It has a built in audience of readers interested in medium form content.
- It gives new writers an approachable (almost Apple like) publishing workflow that anyone can learn and use immediately
- There are no advertisements.
I’ve considered moving my content to something like a ghost website or Substack.
For now, I’ll stick with Medium.
I’m not in it for the money, so I don’t paywall any of my stories or worry about the partner program earnings. If you’re trying to monetize, you may or may not want to do it on Medium. (If I was trying to make money off of this writing hobby I would start my own website ~ but that’s just me.)
Should You Start a Blog on Medium in 2025? My Advice
You should do it!
Writing is one of life’s most satisfying hobbies.
You build something tangible, grow as a person, and learn interesting
things while you’re at it.
If you’re on the fence, start small.
Pick a question that you’ve been asking yourself and write the clearest answer you can. Don’t worry about it being perfect ~
It never is.