Even though I have a literary agent and a hypothetical book deal that may or may not ever see me published, writing fiction on Medium hooked me when I started posting daily chapters of a YA novella. Medium liked it (back in the day before they seemed to sort of de-emphasize fiction and totally de-emphasize serialized chapter fiction.)
Anyway, this was one of those stories that I was really into. Lived my characters. Wrote like madman. All the highs and lows of creative frenzy.
And they liked it!
I got so much great feedback, and for the first time ever, more than handful of people were reading. Hell, I had hundreds of people reading this story I was inventing day by day.
I’d end each day on a cliffhanger, and I’d have people bugging me to either find out what happened next, or to make suggestions about what they wanted to have happen next.
Talk about writer’s crack cocaine! I had to have more. ;-)
So, even though I still pursue traditional publishing, I love to make my stories and novels available on Medium, because I get that instant reader feedback and appreciation.
Sadly, Medium doesn’t seem to distribute fiction as widely as they used to.
Or maybe my current stuff just isn’t as compelling. But it’s still a hoot doing it. Most fun a person can have out of bed, as Heinlein used to say. ;-)
Here’s that initial blockbuster that hooked me, by the way. If you’re interested. This isn’t the original version. It’s been edited, spiffed up, and polished. But not nearly as widely read!
