Too right! Go to the damned peanut shop like the rest of us.
That reluctant “should put some effort into” in relation to social media makes me think it’s not gonna go well. Dive in and engage with it, you’ll get into some awesome conversations, if you can stomach the inevitable trolls. I got fed up with them so have largely given up SM posting – hmm, articel there, I might write that up – but I fear if you set off pre-jaded, it’s gonna drag you further down.
The “branch out” and “other platforms” bit had a more positive feel, and a coupla pieces accepted is a better start than most. Maybe they don’t get your poetry. Well, never mind, you’ve an eager audience for it right here on medium so when the muse strikes you can dive in for some more peanut shells.
I completely agree about your assessment of the way medium works as “pretty damn priceless”.
Of course, if you need it to pay the bills, then it’ll spend time being a drag just like any regular job. I’m mega lucky in that I don’t have that millstone on my shoulders any more – not because I’m mega rich (alas) but because I’m not in the day job any more – there’s another article in that, thinking about it.
I’ve not been around medium long enough to judge cycles but it feels to me that it’does the cycles that everything else does – flat days, bumpy days, unexpectedly amazing days, and all the variety of stuff… eek, I’m beginning another article.
The contest. Yeah, I looked at it. I suspect everyone did. It sparked one story for me, but I wasn’t ready to tell it. Maybe I will later when there’s no competition. Maybe if I’d forced it, I’d have won loadsa money. It was liberating not to feel under any obligation, so I didn’t enter. If you entered, I would love to see you win.
On a purely selfish note, if you vanish altogether, I'm going to have to think up my own ideas again. I’ve stacked half a dozen just responding to this, not to mention this is pretty much article-length in itself.
Mojo goes in cycles too, take it from one who’s been writing for more decades than she’d like to admit to. Like wossname, it'll be back!