Love this! “you commit to publishing two to four times a month — and simply notice what keeps pulling you back — you will walk your way into the newsletter you’re dreaming of right now.” That’s how to build a Substack that’s true to you. Simple. Powerful.
Mine already seems so “scattered” and there’s a part of me that wants to spend my time refining and archiving and key word searching and thumbnail editing and blah blah right? Because I DO want it to be “something” one day, and my life is calling for an income stream hard like, NOW.
But there’s also this inner knowing that says “now isn’t the time for that. Now is the time for getting it out, for getting brave, for cursing in public because you do in private and you’re forming into this integrated version of yourself, for sharing your words shamelessly. To the 3, to the 12.”
Gosh, I’m gonna be coming back to this one as a reminder for a long time.
Thank you for this, Amanda. My whole nervous system relaxed as I was reading. There's something so reassuring and permission-giving about the message here: that we don't have to have it all figured out, that microevolution is a GOOD thing, that what starts out as a desire to write poetry embraces other ideas and forms but that, in the end, it's simply about showing up.
“It’s OK if your newsletter doesn’t start fully formed. In fact, the more I meet writers I truly admire, the more I realize that long-lasting newsletters are continually undergoing seasons of microevolution.”
👆 I love this, and also the part about publishing as a way to practice what we’re about.
I remember that a first year goal for my newsletter was to practice publishing weekly. I’d been away from writing for many years, and I first needed to practice a cadence and meeting (my own) deadlines.
As always, I appreciate how you return us to following our instinct and staying true to ourselves.
I love that you gave yourself a very realistic goal here, too. Just publish each week. Just do that. Just show up. I remember first finding your newsletter and thinking, "Gosh, I like writing and her pictures of her gardens. OK, I'm subscribed." :) I know it's a different landscape these days on Substack but perhaps it's a good reminder that the process of uncovering is interesting to readers too. ☀️
WOW. I feel like this is *exactly* what I needed to read right now as I’ve been struggling to get back to writing my newsletter after the election and then starting grad school in January.
Other than papers for school, I haven’t written anything—not even the kind of freelance pieces that used to be the entire basis of my income. It’s a weird place to be, and I’ve been navigating changing the name of my newsletter for months. That’s partially driven by new career goals (in school for social work and to become a therapist) and partially by an acknowledgment that my family will probably need more privacy as I move into a less private but more intimate space that’s very different from being a journalist/editor/writer for the last 20 years.
Anyway, I think I’ve finally settled on a new name and description/direction. That struggle to have a “real” proper newsletter that stays on topic and doesn’t sway from its niche is so real, though. That’s probably partially why I’ve had these struggles and mental blocks lately.
Being a very experienced and successful writer probably made some of the blocks worse, too, because I’ve evolved plenty as a writer but I’ve never evolved into something entirely new that I’m not even sure what yet. A social worker/journalist? A therapist/writer? An editor with a professional knowledge of mental health? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But reading this was SUCH a great reminder that, name change or not, it’s just the actual writing and connecting with others that matters. Here’s hoping I can actually push forward… before I read this today, I had thought about officially making the change on March 8th this weekend because it’s social work month (my new/future career), international women’s day, and my birthday month. Maybe if I write it here, then I actually have to do it!
Thanks SO much for the constant inspiration, Amanda. A few fave quotes:
“You don’t find your newsletter topic. You grow into and alongside it.”
“Publishing consistently, creatively and audaciously will start to build an inner scaffolding. You’ll learn how you want to publish, and how your voice wants to play inside the rhythms of writing.”
“I think you can walk, listen, publish and write your way into the newsletter you’re meant to create. It may not resonate on Day 1 or day 100. Your starting place will be different from everyone else’s.
But if you commit to publishing two to four times a month — and simply notice what keeps pulling you back — you will walk your way into the newsletter you’re dreaming of right now.”
Ohh, I resonate with much of what you’ve shared, Irina. The desire for clarity and a consistent topic, and the roadblocks around that.
And also this, “ because I’ve evolved plenty as a writer but I’ve never evolved into something entirely new that I’m not even sure what yet.” I feel like I could have written this 😆
I don’t have a clear sense of who I’m becoming or stepping into being, beyond a deep knowing and intuitive nudges in certain directions, and I’m learning to let go of that need for the clear cut direction and just step off the path and start walking.
Substack is another part of that journey for me, I think, and giving myself permission to unfold here too feels important. It’s like having many pieces that you imagine might go together somehow, but you don’t really know how yet, and allowing this to be okay.
(I’m also considering training as a psychotherapist. It feels like another piece of the puzzle, but I’m equally not sure if it fits right now.)
Wishing you ease and flow in your continuing unfolding, and in your journey!
So much to say here, Irina! And of course I relate a ton to so much of this sense that you've been unfolding inside yourself and looking at all the old tools that used to work (in journalism and marketing and communications) and realizing they don't quite work anymore. It takes a HUGE amount of courage to reimagine a new way of being in the world. Thank you for always pushing through to the real you, the real voice. I also want to just keep handing back to you unlimited permission to be messy and to not have a successful, buttoned up newsletter just yet. That perhaps, while you're going to school and undergoing so much transformation, maybe the last thing your creative spirit wants is another box. Maybe you're hungry for a season of musing instead...? 🫶
^ that’s what just came to me as I read your post, Amanda.
I also love the question, “ How nourished are you when you sit down to write your newsletter?” What a beautiful invitation to reflect on.
Nourishment is a core theme for me I’m exploring in my life, (or that I could say is being explored through me,) and ‘walking my way’ into writing here that’s nourishing feels like part of the journey.
I think I’m still questioning and being curious about how that can be.
Thank you, this is exactly what I, and every other creative in any discipline needs to hear
Love this! “you commit to publishing two to four times a month — and simply notice what keeps pulling you back — you will walk your way into the newsletter you’re dreaming of right now.” That’s how to build a Substack that’s true to you. Simple. Powerful.
Exactly the bit I highlighted!
Yes! I really like that sense of walking into our newsletter- not rushing or hurtling or panicking our way in. It feels kinder and more intentional 😊
Yes, and I liked the simple directness of: do a little, regularly. and notice how it Feels.
A great steering mechanism for nudging closer to this-feels-good, steer away from not-so-much. Repeat.
Totally!
So so so timely.
Mine already seems so “scattered” and there’s a part of me that wants to spend my time refining and archiving and key word searching and thumbnail editing and blah blah right? Because I DO want it to be “something” one day, and my life is calling for an income stream hard like, NOW.
But there’s also this inner knowing that says “now isn’t the time for that. Now is the time for getting it out, for getting brave, for cursing in public because you do in private and you’re forming into this integrated version of yourself, for sharing your words shamelessly. To the 3, to the 12.”
Gosh, I’m gonna be coming back to this one as a reminder for a long time.
Thank you for this, Amanda. My whole nervous system relaxed as I was reading. There's something so reassuring and permission-giving about the message here: that we don't have to have it all figured out, that microevolution is a GOOD thing, that what starts out as a desire to write poetry embraces other ideas and forms but that, in the end, it's simply about showing up.
“It’s OK if your newsletter doesn’t start fully formed. In fact, the more I meet writers I truly admire, the more I realize that long-lasting newsletters are continually undergoing seasons of microevolution.”
👆 I love this, and also the part about publishing as a way to practice what we’re about.
I remember that a first year goal for my newsletter was to practice publishing weekly. I’d been away from writing for many years, and I first needed to practice a cadence and meeting (my own) deadlines.
As always, I appreciate how you return us to following our instinct and staying true to ourselves.
I love that you gave yourself a very realistic goal here, too. Just publish each week. Just do that. Just show up. I remember first finding your newsletter and thinking, "Gosh, I like writing and her pictures of her gardens. OK, I'm subscribed." :) I know it's a different landscape these days on Substack but perhaps it's a good reminder that the process of uncovering is interesting to readers too. ☀️
WOW. I feel like this is *exactly* what I needed to read right now as I’ve been struggling to get back to writing my newsletter after the election and then starting grad school in January.
Other than papers for school, I haven’t written anything—not even the kind of freelance pieces that used to be the entire basis of my income. It’s a weird place to be, and I’ve been navigating changing the name of my newsletter for months. That’s partially driven by new career goals (in school for social work and to become a therapist) and partially by an acknowledgment that my family will probably need more privacy as I move into a less private but more intimate space that’s very different from being a journalist/editor/writer for the last 20 years.
Anyway, I think I’ve finally settled on a new name and description/direction. That struggle to have a “real” proper newsletter that stays on topic and doesn’t sway from its niche is so real, though. That’s probably partially why I’ve had these struggles and mental blocks lately.
Being a very experienced and successful writer probably made some of the blocks worse, too, because I’ve evolved plenty as a writer but I’ve never evolved into something entirely new that I’m not even sure what yet. A social worker/journalist? A therapist/writer? An editor with a professional knowledge of mental health? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But reading this was SUCH a great reminder that, name change or not, it’s just the actual writing and connecting with others that matters. Here’s hoping I can actually push forward… before I read this today, I had thought about officially making the change on March 8th this weekend because it’s social work month (my new/future career), international women’s day, and my birthday month. Maybe if I write it here, then I actually have to do it!
Thanks SO much for the constant inspiration, Amanda. A few fave quotes:
“You don’t find your newsletter topic. You grow into and alongside it.”
“Publishing consistently, creatively and audaciously will start to build an inner scaffolding. You’ll learn how you want to publish, and how your voice wants to play inside the rhythms of writing.”
“I think you can walk, listen, publish and write your way into the newsletter you’re meant to create. It may not resonate on Day 1 or day 100. Your starting place will be different from everyone else’s.
But if you commit to publishing two to four times a month — and simply notice what keeps pulling you back — you will walk your way into the newsletter you’re dreaming of right now.”
Ohh, I resonate with much of what you’ve shared, Irina. The desire for clarity and a consistent topic, and the roadblocks around that.
And also this, “ because I’ve evolved plenty as a writer but I’ve never evolved into something entirely new that I’m not even sure what yet.” I feel like I could have written this 😆
I don’t have a clear sense of who I’m becoming or stepping into being, beyond a deep knowing and intuitive nudges in certain directions, and I’m learning to let go of that need for the clear cut direction and just step off the path and start walking.
Substack is another part of that journey for me, I think, and giving myself permission to unfold here too feels important. It’s like having many pieces that you imagine might go together somehow, but you don’t really know how yet, and allowing this to be okay.
(I’m also considering training as a psychotherapist. It feels like another piece of the puzzle, but I’m equally not sure if it fits right now.)
Wishing you ease and flow in your continuing unfolding, and in your journey!
So much to say here, Irina! And of course I relate a ton to so much of this sense that you've been unfolding inside yourself and looking at all the old tools that used to work (in journalism and marketing and communications) and realizing they don't quite work anymore. It takes a HUGE amount of courage to reimagine a new way of being in the world. Thank you for always pushing through to the real you, the real voice. I also want to just keep handing back to you unlimited permission to be messy and to not have a successful, buttoned up newsletter just yet. That perhaps, while you're going to school and undergoing so much transformation, maybe the last thing your creative spirit wants is another box. Maybe you're hungry for a season of musing instead...? 🫶
“Writing a newsletter is relational.”
^ that’s what just came to me as I read your post, Amanda.
I also love the question, “ How nourished are you when you sit down to write your newsletter?” What a beautiful invitation to reflect on.
Nourishment is a core theme for me I’m exploring in my life, (or that I could say is being explored through me,) and ‘walking my way’ into writing here that’s nourishing feels like part of the journey.
I think I’m still questioning and being curious about how that can be.