When I go introspective for too long there is a sickening sense of navel gazing. That writers boon and curse both- looking behind everything always. Grateful to read whatever you produce.
Glad to hear that Ada Lovelace Day has been saved. Why not change the frequency of this newsletter, to avoid giving yourself too much work? Incidentally, I'd love to hear your recommendations on "reading about comedy".
Both Why Aren't I Writing? and Word Count have gone down from weekly to once every two weeks, alternating, so the time issue isn't so bad. The main Ada Lovelace Day newsletter is monthly, and the weekly one is easy because that's gems from our archive so I schedule them in batches. I don't feel under too much time pressure right now, but if I have to move to a monthly schedule then I will.
In terms of comedy, there are a couple of comedy Substacks that I read, although I haven't found any by women so far:
I've done a few webinars, and went to the Big Comedy Conference (some of their panel videos are now up on their website at https://www.comedy.co.uk/ but they might only be available to Pro members).
With regard to books, I'm struggling a bit with them being, well, boring. I'm going to have to go back to them and try again:
What Are You Laughing At? by Dan O'Shannon – I got as far as page 14 before I got distracted by something more fun, but will have to give it a go as he is a Big Name.
Creating Comedy Narratives by Chris Head I haven't started yet.
The Serious Guide To Joke Writing by Sally Holloway was full of some good techniques but I didn't do the exercises.
I'm really looking forward to Comedy Basic by Joel Morris – I've met Joel and he's lovely, so I'll be more motivated to actually read it. But it's not out for another year. Bah.
Finally, I'm spending time really doing a deep dive on the first five minutes of comedy shows, which I need to start writing up as posts here. It's amazing how much set-up you can do in five minutes!
Still lots to learn and more reading to do, but never enough time to do as much as I'd like!
No need to overthink it! I love everything you write - it makes me pause for thought as you often hit the nail on the head. So just do whatever works for you, at the frequency that works for you. Thanks for everything you've written so far - it's all brilliant.
Aw, thanks Lisa! And yes, maybe I am overthinking it a bit. Although overthinking for me often means that somethings moving off track, but I don't necessarily yet know what it is. But there's room to experiment, so I'll do a few research-type posts and see how they feel.
I love reading what you write Suw and I have no doubt that I will continue to do so. I have found that there’s been a lot of introspection in my substack, lots of talking about writing and lots of writing about Substack and I am craving something different. Something joyful. 💛
It's interesting, isn't it, how easy it is to fall into introspection here. I mean, I'm not stranger to it – I started my blog in 2001 and a lot of the early posts were all just very angsty. But I, too, am craving something more meaty. Joyful, yes, but also stuff that's just interesting or curious or whatever. Food for thought, more than feeding on one's own anxiety.
Profoundly relatable. As a fellow writer of deep introspection--and as a writer of memoir and autobiographical fiction--I know the fear of narcissism sensation well. My advice? Write through that fear. You’re doing that now.
When I go introspective for too long there is a sickening sense of navel gazing. That writers boon and curse both- looking behind everything always. Grateful to read whatever you produce.
Yeah, that's it, isn't it? A glance at one's navel can be interesting, even illuminating. Staring at it too long makes one go cross eyed.
Glad you enjoy the newsletter, though. Thank you!
Glad to hear that Ada Lovelace Day has been saved. Why not change the frequency of this newsletter, to avoid giving yourself too much work? Incidentally, I'd love to hear your recommendations on "reading about comedy".
Both Why Aren't I Writing? and Word Count have gone down from weekly to once every two weeks, alternating, so the time issue isn't so bad. The main Ada Lovelace Day newsletter is monthly, and the weekly one is easy because that's gems from our archive so I schedule them in batches. I don't feel under too much time pressure right now, but if I have to move to a monthly schedule then I will.
In terms of comedy, there are a couple of comedy Substacks that I read, although I haven't found any by women so far:
Joel Morris: https://joelmorris.substack.com/
James Cary: https://thesitutationroom.substack.com/
I've watched some of Cary's videos at https://sitcomgeek.blogspot.com/ and am working my way through the archives of his Sitcom Geek podcast https://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/sitcom_geeks/
I've done a few webinars, and went to the Big Comedy Conference (some of their panel videos are now up on their website at https://www.comedy.co.uk/ but they might only be available to Pro members).
With regard to books, I'm struggling a bit with them being, well, boring. I'm going to have to go back to them and try again:
What Are You Laughing At? by Dan O'Shannon – I got as far as page 14 before I got distracted by something more fun, but will have to give it a go as he is a Big Name.
Creating Comedy Narratives by Chris Head I haven't started yet.
The Serious Guide To Joke Writing by Sally Holloway was full of some good techniques but I didn't do the exercises.
I'm really looking forward to Comedy Basic by Joel Morris – I've met Joel and he's lovely, so I'll be more motivated to actually read it. But it's not out for another year. Bah.
Finally, I'm spending time really doing a deep dive on the first five minutes of comedy shows, which I need to start writing up as posts here. It's amazing how much set-up you can do in five minutes!
Still lots to learn and more reading to do, but never enough time to do as much as I'd like!
Thanks! I will check these out.
No need to overthink it! I love everything you write - it makes me pause for thought as you often hit the nail on the head. So just do whatever works for you, at the frequency that works for you. Thanks for everything you've written so far - it's all brilliant.
Aw, thanks Lisa! And yes, maybe I am overthinking it a bit. Although overthinking for me often means that somethings moving off track, but I don't necessarily yet know what it is. But there's room to experiment, so I'll do a few research-type posts and see how they feel.
I love reading what you write Suw and I have no doubt that I will continue to do so. I have found that there’s been a lot of introspection in my substack, lots of talking about writing and lots of writing about Substack and I am craving something different. Something joyful. 💛
Thanks, Emily!
It's interesting, isn't it, how easy it is to fall into introspection here. I mean, I'm not stranger to it – I started my blog in 2001 and a lot of the early posts were all just very angsty. But I, too, am craving something more meaty. Joyful, yes, but also stuff that's just interesting or curious or whatever. Food for thought, more than feeding on one's own anxiety.
Profoundly relatable. As a fellow writer of deep introspection--and as a writer of memoir and autobiographical fiction--I know the fear of narcissism sensation well. My advice? Write through that fear. You’re doing that now.
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Thanks, Michael. I'm glad it not just me!