I took a break from social media and started to write blog posts every single day. I often feel uninspired and I know that few if any posts are read, but as I wrote, blogging is a conversation with oneself. It's an opportunity to be mindful for half an hour to an hour per day. I like writing daily now. Part of my motivation comes from being ignored on FaceBook and Twitter. If FB and TW make money from me wasting time, then I will invest it in blogging. I'm afraid of writing on substack, for now.
Taking a break from social media is wise! It's a bottomless attention pit that you can never fill up and from which you get very little back. It didn't used to be that way, but we are where we are. And I love the idea that blogging being a way to be mindful every day. That's a nice way to look at it.
I started blogging in 2001, and it's certainly had its ebbs and flows over the years. But the main thing about blogging (and writing newsletters) for me is that it helps me work out what I think. The act of writing is an act of thinking, of putting ideas together into a hopefully cohesive whole. It is a way of discovering both my view of the world and my place in it, regardless of whether I'm writing factually or creatively.
That process takes a while, but I am sure that, at some point, you will find that you have a clearer idea of your writing self and publishing on substack won't feel quite so scary. Keep at it!
This! Fear ✔ Potential humiliation ✔ Procrastination ✔ I've written a fair amount, but very little has been seen by anyone other than me. Getting set up on here was my way of dipping a toe in the water. It might be a while until I feel ready to post anything, but you've got to start somewhere!
Congratulations on getting started! That's a huge and very important first step. And when you start to think about posting your first post, remember that most people are a lot more forgiving than you think. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!
I absolutely love your direct titles. I got here from Suw's News, which I also like. I enjoyed this post, particularly the following of the flight - it put me right in the room with you, I felt like I was sitting and looking at you type over your shoulder (sorry, that sounds creepy but you brought me there!)
But, is it the fear of writing or the fear of publishing? Do you feel that the "blank page fear" is the same as the "public failure" fear? I wonder sometimes whether if I could distill it, to tease them apart scientifically, I might be able to overcome both. Maybe it's my psych/academia training talking. Maybe sometimes it's better to just ignore both and carry on. I don't know.
I think in most cases, fear of writing and fear of publishing are the same thing. Only the most ardently private of diarists is writing to not be read. Most of us know that, at some point, someone is going to read what we've written and they are going to judge it. That person may well be us and the only way to avoid that self-judgement would be to toss the results before re-reading it. That's a valid technique for overcoming writer's block, but it's not going to result in a blog post, novel or PhD. The fear of the blank page is, ultimately, a fear that what we put on that blank page will not be very good and either we or someone else is going to not like it.
I think the best way forward is through. Understand the fear, choose to overcome it (which is a journey, not a task), and practice regularly.
Suw,I know this is an old newsletter, but I was going back through the ones I missed before I subscribed and I had to say that when I told my dad I wanted to be a writer he said, “it’s very difficult to earn a living in publishing” because, despite knowing nothing at all about it, he’d presumably read something to that effect in the Telegraph. Of course, what he didn’t know was that his idea of a “living” and the unknown Telegraph journalist’s idea of a “living” were two very different things. But he wanted me to properly enter the middle class and I took that lesson to heart and believed it was a foolish dream from then on.
It's really very hard to unlearn the things we were taught so young. It's a life's work, to be honest, and all we can do is keep trying to make progress and be kind to ourselves by recognising that those around us generally meant well. Making a living from writing is hard, but it's not impossible and I feel like the distinction there is extremely important and wish it was one I had understood before now.
I arrived here from a search for Ada Lovelace Day. I tried to fill in your questionnaire about a paid sub to keep ALD going but it didn’t like my phone. I’ll try again when I get home next week.
I’m in a small creative writing group and that keeps me writing. I’m just in the throes of trying to get my first novel published, and have a similar issue to the funding of ALD. Do I keep sending out letters to agents and publishers or go via the subscription route?
As an unknown retired engineer, rather than a quiz show host or other celebrity, it seems the literary world may need some convincing.
Writing pitches is my least favourite form of writing. I much prefer a character who taps me in the head, saying, ‘Hey, it’s my turn now.’
I hope your writing mojo keeps you going. You’ve certainly inspired me and brought Ada into my life.
Hi Lynne! Thanks for taking a look at that questionnaire and for reminding me about it! Don't worry about completing it - we did not have a very positive response so I've closed it now. I'm still in talks to save ALD, so we'll see what happens when they conclude.
Regards your question about continuing to send to agents or go the subscription route, I'd suggest you do both. I would continue to submit your full-length works to agents, but also start a newsletter, using other material, to build up an audience
Social media is much less effective than it used to be for promoting stuff, and you never know when a particular platform is going to collapse (see Twitter). So it's sensible to have a newsletter where you have more control over your subscriber list. And I will say that after just 10 days on Substack, it's really, really easy to use and my list is growing much faster than any other newsletter software I've used before.
Finally, I'm so glad that you're feeling inspired! And I love to spread the word about Ada and what an amazing woman she was, so thank you so much for commenting!
I took a break from social media and started to write blog posts every single day. I often feel uninspired and I know that few if any posts are read, but as I wrote, blogging is a conversation with oneself. It's an opportunity to be mindful for half an hour to an hour per day. I like writing daily now. Part of my motivation comes from being ignored on FaceBook and Twitter. If FB and TW make money from me wasting time, then I will invest it in blogging. I'm afraid of writing on substack, for now.
Taking a break from social media is wise! It's a bottomless attention pit that you can never fill up and from which you get very little back. It didn't used to be that way, but we are where we are. And I love the idea that blogging being a way to be mindful every day. That's a nice way to look at it.
I started blogging in 2001, and it's certainly had its ebbs and flows over the years. But the main thing about blogging (and writing newsletters) for me is that it helps me work out what I think. The act of writing is an act of thinking, of putting ideas together into a hopefully cohesive whole. It is a way of discovering both my view of the world and my place in it, regardless of whether I'm writing factually or creatively.
That process takes a while, but I am sure that, at some point, you will find that you have a clearer idea of your writing self and publishing on substack won't feel quite so scary. Keep at it!
This! Fear ✔ Potential humiliation ✔ Procrastination ✔ I've written a fair amount, but very little has been seen by anyone other than me. Getting set up on here was my way of dipping a toe in the water. It might be a while until I feel ready to post anything, but you've got to start somewhere!
Congratulations on getting started! That's a huge and very important first step. And when you start to think about posting your first post, remember that most people are a lot more forgiving than you think. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!
I absolutely love your direct titles. I got here from Suw's News, which I also like. I enjoyed this post, particularly the following of the flight - it put me right in the room with you, I felt like I was sitting and looking at you type over your shoulder (sorry, that sounds creepy but you brought me there!)
But, is it the fear of writing or the fear of publishing? Do you feel that the "blank page fear" is the same as the "public failure" fear? I wonder sometimes whether if I could distill it, to tease them apart scientifically, I might be able to overcome both. Maybe it's my psych/academia training talking. Maybe sometimes it's better to just ignore both and carry on. I don't know.
Thanks, Gal! That's kind of you to say.
I think in most cases, fear of writing and fear of publishing are the same thing. Only the most ardently private of diarists is writing to not be read. Most of us know that, at some point, someone is going to read what we've written and they are going to judge it. That person may well be us and the only way to avoid that self-judgement would be to toss the results before re-reading it. That's a valid technique for overcoming writer's block, but it's not going to result in a blog post, novel or PhD. The fear of the blank page is, ultimately, a fear that what we put on that blank page will not be very good and either we or someone else is going to not like it.
I think the best way forward is through. Understand the fear, choose to overcome it (which is a journey, not a task), and practice regularly.
Suw,I know this is an old newsletter, but I was going back through the ones I missed before I subscribed and I had to say that when I told my dad I wanted to be a writer he said, “it’s very difficult to earn a living in publishing” because, despite knowing nothing at all about it, he’d presumably read something to that effect in the Telegraph. Of course, what he didn’t know was that his idea of a “living” and the unknown Telegraph journalist’s idea of a “living” were two very different things. But he wanted me to properly enter the middle class and I took that lesson to heart and believed it was a foolish dream from then on.
It's really very hard to unlearn the things we were taught so young. It's a life's work, to be honest, and all we can do is keep trying to make progress and be kind to ourselves by recognising that those around us generally meant well. Making a living from writing is hard, but it's not impossible and I feel like the distinction there is extremely important and wish it was one I had understood before now.
I arrived here from a search for Ada Lovelace Day. I tried to fill in your questionnaire about a paid sub to keep ALD going but it didn’t like my phone. I’ll try again when I get home next week.
I’m in a small creative writing group and that keeps me writing. I’m just in the throes of trying to get my first novel published, and have a similar issue to the funding of ALD. Do I keep sending out letters to agents and publishers or go via the subscription route?
As an unknown retired engineer, rather than a quiz show host or other celebrity, it seems the literary world may need some convincing.
Writing pitches is my least favourite form of writing. I much prefer a character who taps me in the head, saying, ‘Hey, it’s my turn now.’
I hope your writing mojo keeps you going. You’ve certainly inspired me and brought Ada into my life.
Hi Lynne! Thanks for taking a look at that questionnaire and for reminding me about it! Don't worry about completing it - we did not have a very positive response so I've closed it now. I'm still in talks to save ALD, so we'll see what happens when they conclude.
Regards your question about continuing to send to agents or go the subscription route, I'd suggest you do both. I would continue to submit your full-length works to agents, but also start a newsletter, using other material, to build up an audience
Social media is much less effective than it used to be for promoting stuff, and you never know when a particular platform is going to collapse (see Twitter). So it's sensible to have a newsletter where you have more control over your subscriber list. And I will say that after just 10 days on Substack, it's really, really easy to use and my list is growing much faster than any other newsletter software I've used before.
Finally, I'm so glad that you're feeling inspired! And I love to spread the word about Ada and what an amazing woman she was, so thank you so much for commenting!