Why You Should Not Give Up Writing When No One is Reading Your Articles

The image was created using Midjourney by Author of Startup Journey.

I almost gave up writing on Medium when virtually all my posts had no views or responses.

Not a single comment or clap.

As much as I tried posting daily and cracking my head, what topics should I write?

I focused on my passion — writing topics about my entrepreneurship journey. It’s easier to write because it’s based on my personal experience.

I even posted more than once daily. Although many have advised me to continue posting daily for 30 days, I still need something else. Why?

As I scratched my head, I tried to be more engaging with the rest of the writers on Medium — leaving comments and giving a lot of claps.

Although it works… slowly gaining more audience and followers, it still has not reached my expectations.

I wonder why others can immediately get 100s of followers within a short period.

Why is Medium boosting some of the articles but not mine?

Why is there only a trickling audience reading my articles?

What have I done wrong?

As I got more frustrated, checking the traffic statistics almost every hour and finding out that there was not much change — I began to feel very tired and hopeless.

I began to wonder whether my writing needed more quality or whether the topics I wrote about had no niche.

But again, the topics of entrepreneurship are popular with other writers, but why not mine?

Many times, I began to have the feeling of giving up.

But before giving up, I decided to take a short break from writing and focus more on analysis.

I began to read other people’s articles and analyze why they could get boosted and more engaged.

I returned to writing with a few more suggestions and improved my weaknesses.

This is what I did, and it has given me a lot of improvement in my articles and engagement:

Writing with emotion: Instead of writing endlessly, I write based on my emotions. Writing down my feelings throughout my journey. In this way, the writing will resonate with like-minded entrepreneurs, too.
Focused on other niches: I started to mix my topics besides entrepreneurship. One reason is to see the reaction from my followers or medium readers. For example, I began to write topics about my experience, reporting on Medium and journaling my progress. The statistics immediately have a big jump when I write these other topics.
Creating better headlines: I must admit that I am weak in making catchy headlines, but as I looked at other author’s examples, I began to mimic their way of creating headlines. Voila! It works!
Short bite articles: People prefer to read shorter sentences. I also want to use short sentences. It’s easier to read, and it’s full of emotion. Changing this strategy indeed has given better engagement. Some readers don’t prefer heavy stuff with so many facts. Sometimes, they like easy reading materials.
Engage with readers: When the articles involve the readers and even give them something to comment on, such as asking for their feedback or asking a question, it will provide an opportunity for better engagement.
Longer than 3-minute articles: This is important if you want to monetize your articles. I will have a better chance for the reading time to be beyond the standard 30-second rule. Take note: even though you have written a 3-minute article, the reader will typically skip most of the writing and focus more on particular portions. You must find ways to ensure the reader stops and reads for at least 30 seconds.

With the above improvements, I noticed a big jump in my views, follower counts, and engagements.

Thus, I decided to return to my Medium writing and not give up.

Success doesn’t come easy — it requires true grit and persistence.