How I almost gave up on Medium and almost came back

I just posted a Draft from the Past on how I almost gave up on Medium… and how I "came back". But I didn't come back then. And I am back now. I'm back with the Medium Partner Program! And… that's not the best part.

Looking back at what happened… again

When I wrote that draft, back in 2020, I genuinely did think that I would get back to posting. But I didn't. Honestly, despite having drafted that, I just didn't pick up the steam to draft more posts… and it never felt right to publish that post. So I just let it sit… till today.

Meanwhile, though, I did actually start publishing. That happened for multiple reasons, and I'm going to talk about those today. Still… wait for the best part, it's yet to come.

My 2025 New Year Resolution-ish

In 2025, while wishing everyone a happy new year, I also resolved to make a change and to post more to my Medium. I even made a nice bullet pointed list of topics I wanted to write about. And I did post more!! Um… In August and September, I posted. One of my posts (Preparing for an AI Interview) did go on to become a much read and shared post, and has since been included in multiple Medium users' reading lists or collections! It's also one of my few articles that is NOT behind a paywall. And intentionally so, because I wanted everyone to easily find it! But also… you know. Some payments my way would have been nice.

The Return of my Partner Program, and Stripe

Somewhere in 2024, Medium added a bunch of countries to the Partner Program, including India. I re-enrolled in about March 2025. After a bit of re-adjustment – unlinking a Stripe account, and setting up a fresh India-based Stripe account… I was back in business! But… like I said above… I didn't actually publish a lot of posts on Medium that I chose to place behind a paywall.

My 2026 New Year Resolution-ish! (Yes, I tried another thing!)

I started 2026 all gung-ho about writing and drawing. That was when I committed to my Write and Draw daily posts. Every day, I would post. One writing, with one drawing as an image. An opportunity for me to get back into vector art – something I used to dabble in as a kid.

It lasted a whole of 17 days! Which is… yay!! But also… bummer! By Day 18, life got in the way, and I dropped it entirely.

Where we stand now – in October 2026!

This month, I've recommitted to visibility, and I've managed to post almost every single day, since the start of the month.

This time, instead of working harder, I've decided to work smarter. To do that, I started with one simple question to myself:

What have I written that's been gathering but I've been afraid to publish?

And then it occurred to me – I've been writing flash fiction for more than a decade – but they're all drafts waiting to be published! So I've chosen to ride on that wave of almost 60 drafts – to start turning them into posts, and to start putting them out. No perfectionism – just posting, watching and learning.

Has it all been worth it?

I would say, a resounding yes! I've learned a lot about working with my fears to put my work out, about visibility, about rejection, and holding the feelings that come with that. I've learned how Medium publications work – and have a few I've started myself. I've started to understand that the presentation, views and reads numbers are NOT a personal failing! They're signs giving me a hint, a direction, to tell me what might need changing.

In Conclusion…

Starting to write on Medium – even when it was just one post – was one of the best things I've done for myself. For visibility, for confidence, for vulnerability and for working with my difficult feelings.

Has it been a roller coaster ride? Absolutely! And yet, I would do it again if I knew from the start that it would bring me where I am now.

I don't have to have a huge following or a huge number of reads today, or even this month or year. Just the fact that I kept showing up means I've been learning a lot and growing a lot. A little bit at a time.

And that's enough for me to have immense gratitude for where I am, for every single one of my readers, and for the Medium team and this amazing platform they've built and maintained for all of us. Thank you – from the depths of my heart!

And that feeling of gratitude? That is the best part!