I woke up Sunday morning, sat down, and started preparing to work on this week’s post for the Monday Morning Meta Fix — a weekly feature of the newsletter.
My planned agenda for each Monday feature is:
A FREE segment — To give a Recap, listing which meta related activities I performed the previous week, both on the Medium and the Substack platforms, as well as other sites — when applicable — such as Youtube and Ko-fi
A PAID segment —To continue on, and provide detailed descriptions and explanations, surrounding each meta related activity. This includes the pros and cons of these activities, based on details from my most current progress and results
When I opened the tab for my Substack page, I instantly began recalling how joyful I felt last week, when I browsed around the platform, and saw so many familiar writers from Medium.
So far, I’ve been so busy over here, trying to set up both: The “Meta” Fixer Newsletter, and my Just Goode Writing Newsletter, that I haven’t really had time to even reach out to a lot of them yet, let alone spend a little time mingling and engaging on a serious level.
I’ve missed doing this so much, that I’m super excited about touching base with a lot of current Substack members who I once knew on Medium.
As I tried to settle down and focus on the things I wanted to share, I couldn’t help feeling like a child, trying to concentrate on their homework, while all the other kids where outside my window, beckoning me to come out and play.
As much as I wanted to go straight to the fun I find myself having whenever I read, comment, and interact with other writers in the community, I forced myself to remember my PURPOSE for being on Substack.
This was easy to do, once I recalled all the confusing emotions I experienced, after losing writers in the Medium community, that I viewed as family and friends.
I literally became depressed in my spirit, when things began to take a drastic change on Medium.
The joy and inspiration I once received from belonging to a much happier community of writers, had somehow turned into a negative environment, resulting in a lack of fulfillment.
The final straw came when the news came down the pipes, about no longer compensating for meta, Medium related stories.
Naturally, I was concerned, with maybe 3/4 of my stories containing meta, out of a 1,900 story catalog.
With no real connections remaining in the community, and the majority of my stories being scheduled to go unpaid, I didn’t feel like I had a purpose for continuing to be there.
I didn’t even feel the desire to write any new stories, meta or otherwise.
I no longer had a purpose.
On the days I found myself gravitating back to the website, to see how things were progressing, and gauge the temperature of things, I noticed the comments of so many writers who seemed to be feeling the exact same way.
I can’t tell you how many writers lament about missing former Medium family and friends who were once part of the community.
This helped me appreciate that I’m not alone and my depression and low spirits about losing my virtual family and online community is a lot more common than I realized.
📌 NOTE: This is actually a topic I would love to hear any writers in the medical profession speak on in a comment, a chat group, or a published post at some point. I know that my friend
has already covered lots of issues here on Substack, directly related to Medium. Hopefully we’ll get his views on what I just shared about myself, as it relates to the mental health of online writers.In fact, all comments on this serious topic will be welcome.
I’m glad to say that eventually, I was finally able to get myself together, and in my spirit, I feel like things are really looking up. Once again, I feel the excitement of getting up in the morning and knowing exactly what I want to try and achieve regarding my writing.
What finally helped me want to take action, take control, and turn things around, was purpose.
Having purpose makes it all worthwhile
I’m happy to report that I’m thoroughly convinced and I know exactly what my PURPOSE is, when it comes to my existing catalog of meta stories on Medium.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: The newsletter you’re currently enjoying is NOT just a vehicle to continue sharing my viewpoints about Medium or about writing related themes and topics.
I’m not here for the purpose of finding old connections and making new ones; thereby falling in love with another online community and risking a repeat of the Medium situation.
My PRIMARY PURPOSE in being here, is to help me stay focused on “fixing” my catalog of Medium stories, so all the hard work I put into my content will not have been in vain.
Along the way, in the process of me working to fulfill my purpose, I look forward to socializing and networking in my usual and creative way. But not to the same extent as on Medium, and definitely not to the point of forgetting why I’m here.
What about you?
Motivate yourself with a worthwhile purpose
Do you have meta stories, or other content on Medium, that you’ve basically written off, due to the current situation?
This situation is not about to go away, and the longer you wait to address it in some way, the less control you’ll have to do something about it.
Isn’t that a good enough reason for you to try and motivate yourself, with a purpose that is beneficial and worthwhile?
Personally, I’m convinced that addressing meta content in a well thought out way, can ultimately benefit you and your stories.
True, the Medium community may not look the same, and some of your original family and friends may be gone. Those that remain, may no longer be as forthcoming when it comes to reading and engagement, particularly with Medium related stories.
It is what it is.
But don’t just accept defeat and think to yourself: “What’s the use?”
Instead, stop and realize that you already have a good and justifiable reason or purpose, for why you shouldn’t simply take things laying down.
Allow that purpose to be the driving force that motivates you.
Make the choice to get your ass in gear and prepare to take a long chauffeur driven ride with motivation, as you work hard to reach your new goal.
Are you prepared to get motivated, stay motivated, and complete your objective, without fail?
If you are, then SUBSCRIBE now, to gain full access to unlimited help and resource stories I’ll continue to post.
If you do, you can follow me, and together we can discover ways to continue earning from your Medium content.
Final Word
Since The Meta Fixer newsletter is brand new, I’ve been spending a lot of time and effort talking about what this resource will contain, while I also tried to announce my presence here in the community.
Just like most things we try to do online, these activities were time consuming, and even prevented me from devoting time to addressing more of my meta stories over on Medium.
I’m not surprised, because this is to be expected whenever you join a new platform and start getting set up, regardless of what your purpose for being there happens to be.
By now, I think I’ve done a decent job of making readers aware of exactly why I created the newsletter, and why I believe it will be an important resource to the right audience.
However, now, it’s about time for me to start getting down to the meat and potatoes of things. That’s why, going forward, I plan to do less talking about the why’s and what fors, for creating this newsletter, or for subscribing to it.
Instead, I’m ready to get down to the actual work of FIXING my meta stories located on Medium.
What to look forward to
This issue of the Monday Morning Meta Fix is a combination of both the Free and the Paid segments, since I didn’t get a chance to revisit very many stories on Medium last week.
So far, I’m off to a slow start, but a good one. Here’s what I’ve accomplished so far:
I now have an effective system for fixing stories that need very little work, in order to reclassify them as non-meta, so they can remain behind the paywall on Medium.
On Substack, I have my Just Goode Writing Newsletter, which provides the perfect opportunity to publish any content that I decide to repurpose and make available to the Substack community.
On Medium, I have The “Meta” Fix Publication, where I can relocate any of my stories to, in the event there is no other alternative to removing them from behind the paywall.
On Substack, I have The “Meta” Fixer Newsletter, which serves as a venue and a vehicle, where I can discuss and showcase my meta related activities, plus stay motivated to continue moving forward with all the above activities, until I accomplish my goal.
Now that everything’s in place and I even have my home office arranged so I can get more work done, I don’t plan to fool around, or allow myself to get distracted or side-tracked, no matter how much fun Substack might be.
If you’re serious about doing something constructive with your current meta content on Medium, I invite you to join me, by subscribing to this newsletter.
Thanks for your time and attention.
You can show your appreciation and solidarity for a meta writer when you:
