How To Write Articles That Change People’s Lives

As of Medium’s most recent system change, writers are paid based on how much time readers spend reading their articles. Some Medium writers have pointed out that it stands to reason that the longer our articles are, the better. Each additional word gives readers more time with which they could be reading our work.

These writers have a point. The more minutes a reader could spend reading your work, the more minutes they will spend. If you have hundreds and hundreds of articles all over this platform, you’re bound to tally up a lot of reading time. Stands to reason that the more you write, the better.

But this line of reasoning misses the point. We don’t write for money — at least, most of us don’t. We (typically) write for love. We started writing on Medium because we love writing and we think we can contribute something meaningful to the world, not because we saw dollar signs in our eyes. Ultimately, we write because we’re hoping to change someone’s life.

And the best part? Writing that is meaningful makes the most money. Books like The 4-Hour Workweek and The Four Agreements didn’t make shitloads of money because of clever internet marketing tactics(1), they made shitloads of money because they changed lives.

So, the salient question is not “how can I make the most money on Medium,” but “how can I change the most lives through Medium?”

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know the answer. There are better writers out there in the world than I. But here’s what I do know:

Write about something you care about

People who write for Medium are entrepreneurs of a specific kind: we are entrepreneurs who sell articles on Medium.

Entrepreneurs of any kind often wonder what kind of venture they should start. Should they make an app to help people walk their dogs? Should they get their massage license and become a masseuse? Should they start a business selling vegan burgers in the city they attended college?

One way would-be entrepreneurs try to answer this question is to research which ventures are the most profitable. They research if it is more profitable to start a niche blog on which they could sell ads, or if it’s more profitable to start a drop-shipping business on Amazon, or if it’s more profitable for them to take part in a multi-level marketing scheme, or… so on and so forth. The options are endless.

And yet, most of them fail anyway. They pick what the numbers revealed to be a Highly Profitable niche, but their budding ventures end up in flames. What went wrong?

They picked something they didn’t care about.

If you don’t care about what you’re doing, you won’t do what it takes to be the best. If you don’t do what it takes to be the best, you won’t be the best. As a result, you probably won’t make much money.

As an entrepreneur who sells articles on Medium, make sure you are writing articles about something you care about.

Write something worth reading

I’m writing this article on a Saturday night. As I write this, there are hundreds of thousands of people in bars all across America, drunkenly saying the same kinds of stupid shit to each other that all drunk people say.

Unfortunately, a lot of amateur writing is not much better. Much of amateur writing is just writers (possibly drunk) saying to readers the same kind of stuff all the other (possibly drunk) writers are saying.

If you want your writing to change lives, you have to do better. You have to write what other writers aren’t writing; either by writing something new, or by writing something old in a new way.

My favorite example of this is the book How To Win Friends And Influence People. Nothing in that book is new. Educated men have been teaching each other how to influence people since the time of Cicero. But Dale Carnegie repackaged it in a way that made this knowledge accessible to modern audiences—and as a result, he made a fortune.

Write like it’s a calling (not a job or a hobby)

When something’s a hobby, you do it whenever you feel like it. You only do it when you think you might have fun. Kayaking, painting, and karaoke-ing are hobbies for many people.

When something’s a job, you do it when you need money. You put in your eight hours (or ten or twelve) and you go home. At home, you don’t think about it, because it’s just a job.

When something’s a calling, it’s the reason you get out of bed in the morning. You spend time doing other things and thinking about other things, but at the end of the day, your calling is what it’s all about. Your calling is your priority #1.

Writing is tough shit. The only people who become the world’s greatest writers are the people who make writing their calling.

Like I said before starting this list, I don’t have all the answers. What I do know is that if you write with dollar signs in your eyes, you might be able to make some money, but you won’t write the kinds of things that change lives.

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1: The 4-Hour Workweek had an enormous amount of clever internet marketing tactics applied to its launch. But if it was a mediocre book that didn’t change lives, all that marketing would have come to naught.