Robert,

Yeah, buddy. You're opening a big ole can of worms with this essay.

I enjoy your writing. You do it well. Tight stories, excellent grammar, good storylines. Humor! Creativity!

I find articles by others and see their huge numbers, 100 comments, all about absolutely nothing. And the writing is crap.

I try not to let it bring me down.

I write because I love writing. Writing here on Medium doesn't validate my work with money.

Occasionally, someone says they like what I've done.

I follow many beautiful writers here. Very few of these beautiful writers read what I write.

After about three months on Medium I started making $100 a month. There was some sort of algorithm change and my earnings went to shit. Last month was epic- I made over 8.00.

I can't write as much as I would like as I still work and my time is limited.

Medium is what I accept because I like to write and writing is too lonely an activity to have zero readers.

I know there are other ways to go but I'm too old to learn much else. Medium is comfy, like my bathrobe.