I go by Marymortonwrites, and I write drabbles and microfiction. My work often leans toward creative nonfiction, so my audience varies, but I always publish under the fiction umbrella. I've been writing for a long time, mainly through journaling and personal projects. However, I didn’t start sharing my work online until October 2023. That year, after my mom passed away, I had one of those "if not now, then when" moments.
Since January 2024, I’ve been regularly writing 100-word stories on Medium. In fact, I unknowingly took on a challenge similar to yours by creating a 25 Days of Christmas series. My Substack, Fiction and Also Cats, features adorable cat pictures alongside engaging stories. "Come for the cute cat pics—stay for the stories!" You can check it out here: https://marymortonwrites.substack.com/.
Hi Mary! Thanks for stopping in. Seems we do a lot of the same type of writing. I'm curious about what your experience has been on Medium. I started writing there too, but found it difficult to gain traction. Anyway, I'm glad you're here, and I'm looking forward to reading some of your work!
I have been writing drabbles on Medium for a year as of this month. Overall I have 500 ish followers, but I'm part of a publication called Fiction Shorts that is dedicated to drabbles. This group is dedicated to reading and sharing each others work (not read for read), but many of us are fans of each other. In the first six months I had about 5 people who usually read it maybe 7, now I have 10 maybe 15 who read it regularly. For 100 word stories which is pretty much all I write - that's not a bad audience. I've only now trying to build an audience outside of the 100 word groups due to mediums new algorithm. I was making enough to pay for the monthly membership and maybe some coffee. My best month was $50 some time last spring. So money wasn't great, but for something I was having fun dong it was nice. Since the change they made this month I'm making 0 - .01. per story.
I've noticed that I'm paying a lot more attention to word choice in my longer pieces since I started playing around with drabbles. I hope this will make all my writing a bit tighter as I go forward.
Totally! Drabbles (and short-form fiction in general) teach so many valuable, foundational writing skills. While I haven't attempted any long-form fiction in quite some time, I'm noticing that even in my longer nonfiction work, I tend to be more economical and intentional with my words. And I'm sure that when I return to my novel in progress, those skills will transfer.
I go by Marymortonwrites, and I write drabbles and microfiction. My work often leans toward creative nonfiction, so my audience varies, but I always publish under the fiction umbrella. I've been writing for a long time, mainly through journaling and personal projects. However, I didn’t start sharing my work online until October 2023. That year, after my mom passed away, I had one of those "if not now, then when" moments.
Since January 2024, I’ve been regularly writing 100-word stories on Medium. In fact, I unknowingly took on a challenge similar to yours by creating a 25 Days of Christmas series. My Substack, Fiction and Also Cats, features adorable cat pictures alongside engaging stories. "Come for the cute cat pics—stay for the stories!" You can check it out here: https://marymortonwrites.substack.com/.
Hi Mary! Thanks for stopping in. Seems we do a lot of the same type of writing. I'm curious about what your experience has been on Medium. I started writing there too, but found it difficult to gain traction. Anyway, I'm glad you're here, and I'm looking forward to reading some of your work!
I have been writing drabbles on Medium for a year as of this month. Overall I have 500 ish followers, but I'm part of a publication called Fiction Shorts that is dedicated to drabbles. This group is dedicated to reading and sharing each others work (not read for read), but many of us are fans of each other. In the first six months I had about 5 people who usually read it maybe 7, now I have 10 maybe 15 who read it regularly. For 100 word stories which is pretty much all I write - that's not a bad audience. I've only now trying to build an audience outside of the 100 word groups due to mediums new algorithm. I was making enough to pay for the monthly membership and maybe some coffee. My best month was $50 some time last spring. So money wasn't great, but for something I was having fun dong it was nice. Since the change they made this month I'm making 0 - .01. per story.
Thank you for this!
You’re welcome! I hope it’s helpful. 😀
I started writing drabbles last year and enjoyed it so much that I started The Diurnal Drabble Dare here on Substack. https://nissaharlowauthor.substack.com/p/the-diurnal-drabble-dare
I've noticed that I'm paying a lot more attention to word choice in my longer pieces since I started playing around with drabbles. I hope this will make all my writing a bit tighter as I go forward.
Totally! Drabbles (and short-form fiction in general) teach so many valuable, foundational writing skills. While I haven't attempted any long-form fiction in quite some time, I'm noticing that even in my longer nonfiction work, I tend to be more economical and intentional with my words. And I'm sure that when I return to my novel in progress, those skills will transfer.
I’m taking on the challenge! I started yesterday with fiction that could be all too real. Here’s my second story: https://open.substack.com/pub/rosealicewhite/p/golden-strings?r=4df10y&utm_medium=ios