During the summer of 2021, I stopped writing novels to write this newsletter instead. It was part of an initiative I called my full-send summer. Now the summer has ended and I am heading back into the process of writing novels—only to find that it’s different this time.
Hi Elle, I'm a couple of months behind with your posts for all the reasons you enumerated. To write fiction I've had to "quit" a lot of things. I don't have any idea what's going on in pop culture. I don't watch TV shows or very many movies. I watch some sports mainly to maintain solidarity with my family (my wife and my son are avid basketball fans) but sometimes those games do run pretty long and I find myself pining to get back to "work." Reading and writing and daydreaming are my default activities and I wish my everyday existence could settle permanently among them. I don't involve myself in social media. I've never cared for the yipping and yapping of the oceanic peanut gallery and, even in the real world, it seems best to resist the pull of an unwinnable argument. In short, I applaud your attempts at retreat, just remember to keep a notebook near at hand.
So far I've found my retreat a bit restless. The pull between writing and getting read just requires a little of both. But I'm still experimenting with what I need to keep, and what I need to leave behind.
Thanks, Elle. What you’ve written in your post has been on & off in my mind. It reminded me to check in on where I am, where I’m going, and what I’m doing!
So far, I’ve culled my daily posting on IG to once a week or so. I’m not cutting IG out yet as I value the new connections I form with other artists. Also, it’s a way to keep in casual contact with friends I usually won’t get to meet in real life.
As for Twitter, it remains a mystery to me...hahaha.
I'm also culling content consumption as increasingly, I find lesser headspace to give quality attention to process what I'm reading. It's kinda new and scary to me. To let go. To recognise and accept that, after I've given energy to my daily writing and drawing work, I don't have huge room left to read many articles, comment on various Discord channels, scroll through feed after feed, etc. I can only select a few where I can mindfully read and engage with. What's enough for the day is—enough.
Now, taking a cue from you, I want to extend it to a longer period where I'm freer to create.
Last but not least, thanks for sharing my article in your post. We inspire each other! 🌟
"What's enough for the day is—enough" <- this is perfect. It can be hard to give up specific things (Twitter, certain publications, etc.). It's much easier to prioritize the important things for that day, and then let the rest fall off!
I'm still learning what things feel worth some effort, but mostly I feel ike only my newsletter, and then my creative projects outside of my newsletter, are worth my time and devotion!
Thank you for sharing all of this Elle. As a Substack sister, one of the most encouraging aspects of being in the Substack community is hearing from writers on this platform that they feel they are WRITERS first, and curators of conversation, second. Many of us are introverts and have to be in some really quiet spaces to indulge that creativity - but yet the community and conversation is also such a joy. This kind of sharing and dialogue really helps us to navigate it all in a healthy, productive - and artistic - way. Thanks, and please do not feel obligated to reply to this comment, lol - hope you are away somewhere reading!
"Today, it feels unending. Like I need to become a Twitter celebrity and a Discord networking guru and put a newsletter out every weekend to become the next great American novelist—because that’s what it takes to get noticed by readers and garner the attention of The New York Times and sell the film rights to Hello Sunshine. And I do believe that is true to some extent."
100%. The one not-so-great aspect of all of this is that when you post new chapters and other content and then don't see an enormous increase in comments/subscribers/likes/followers, it gets really discouraging! Then I need to remind myself that, however trite it sounds, it's a marathon, not a sprint.
In terms of giving things up while book writing, I try to just block out time (it used to be first thing in the morning at a coffee shop near my office) where I only write and don't check anything else. That's become harder to do now that I work from home.
Yes exactly! I'm getting back to actually writing this week (instead of preparing the stuff I already wrote) and was surprised at how excited I was to start again after reading the last stuff I wrote.
I hope that you find complete peace and complete creativity!
As you think about fandom, this is one of my favorite stories. In the late 1990s, Mariah Carey made the bold decision to hire Bree Nguyen, a 16-year-old superfan, to join her team.
This was so inspiring. Social media, connecting, throwing myself out there...it feels so heavy sometimes. I find it comforting to know other creatives feel the same way. This has given me the push to dive back into writing on my own schedule, without the pressure to share every facet of it. ❤️
This is an incredibly healthy strategy and outlook. Trying to do it all continually is a recipe for burnout or an unfulfilling life. Artists need breaks to thrive and create. The current accepted "path to writing success" doesn't allow breaks. So I reject it. A good life is a far better pursuit than a best-seller list.
Another great newsletter. Quality over quantity is fine with me.
I love this essay! I'm an introvert and can work on long writing projects, but it really tires me when communicating on social media. Super envious that you are working remotely from Costa Rica!! Think of us when you are there :)
Thank you for this, Elle! I'm embarking on a 12-day silent meditation retreat this December. No talking, no eye contact, no technology, no writing, no reading. Nothing but 11 hours a day of meditation. I can't wait. And I can't wait to see what you create.
I LOVE THAT!!!!!! Although I think without writing I wouldn't be able to process anything! I'd just be sitting in a busy mind with no outlet for it. Though maybe that is the point?
Either way, I love the intention around setting some silence in your life. You'll probably come back so refreshed and creative!
Wishing you well during this next season of writing. If you’re up to reading, Wintering by Katherine May is beautiful. Helped me reframe winter from a noun, to a verb.
I think of finding time to write as less about what do I give up and more about how do I prioritize. I create a regular schedule for myself, because writing is high priority, and other leisure activities happen around writing. But I also check-in with myself regularly to make sure my priorities haven’t changed.
I love that!!!!! I do prioritize writing. But I have to prioritize living, to prioritize writing, if that makes sense? I do my mornings for writing, but I kind of need the rest of my life to be unstructured and creative, so that I actually have something to write about the next day.
Oh, to be clear, I think you’re 100% right to prioritize your health, well-being, and inner peace over writing. I do, too! It’s the most important thing IMHO. In addition to inspiration, it also helps prevent burnout, and makes life worth living! I love writing, but it’s hard work.
I missed your regular posts, it seems like you have disappeared forever into the void.
Good to see you pop in and post.
I must say you sure have a lot you want to achieve ! are you sure will not burn out trying to achieve all those goals?
I take a different approach, I focus on 2 things only, so I do not give up anything - and it works, no stress, no change of heart, you just cruise along. I do not want to give up the internet - now way mam
With writing, I write every day for an hour, it is the best way to connect to your subconscious and the material you write down is amazing - did I really write that ? and so entertaining too. The challenege is collate all the material and connect the dots and revise/edit - a different skill to writing, in fact there is always a layer to add, whern reviewing every day and the possibilities are endless.
I recently saw this: Eternal Truths , very profound and moving.
I'm not lost to the void! Though I do apologize for missing my newsletter last week. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with this one by the time my deadline rolled around and decided and extra week would make the whole thing better. And it did!
I like your strategy! What are the only two things you are focusing on?
1.) Reading ( which Nabokov said is really re-reading (read like a writer) - harder than writing and it takes longer - whith considered questions and thoughtful reflection about the body of work ; a sort of analysis if you will - if it is good enough for a nobel laureate, then it good enough for me to extract and adapt that skill)
2.) writing 1 hour a day 365 days a year - master the narrative with short stories, important to stick to the time limit to focus on efficent writing making every word count ! Prevents you from meandering with laser like focus .Soon you will have a portfolio of work to present to a publisher
there is a 3rd, music composition, but that is tied in with (2) - if I have s tory to tell, then I put it in music, a narrative in sounds.
I love it!!! I do time-based goals as well. Every morning is my writing time. The rest of my life has to be unstructured and epicurean (though that does mean I read A LOT because I love it so!)
Amost finished writing part 1 of Madame De Vincent Reverie of the Gothique Suite (dedicated to Elle) : it is moody reflective, uneasy and troubling with a glimmer of hope. I will have to perform it . So where do I send it ? Part 2 will a longing reflection. I will advise when that is complete.
Oh, one other thought: I used to think that I would try and write two or three masterpieces, rather than lots of lots of books. Then I wrote two or three books, and I realised I had lots more to learn. So now, following advice and mentoring from writers, I am trying to write lots a lots. In fact, have you heard the advice that you need to write 1,000,000 words of crap before you get good? I've taken it to heart, so I'm trying to write a 1,000,000 word webnovel (which, while I am trying to make it as good as it can possibly be, may well be crap), and then I'll have a go at writing some masterpieces. That seems to be the way that things work for most people in today's writing world, unless you're a Tolkien or a Rowling. But fair play to you if you manage the small number of masterpieces approach! I don't know; maybe the trick is to write millions of words behind the scenes, and only show people the masterpeices......
Well I don't think it's necessarily a small number of masterpieces, it's just that even one would be really amazing. I felt that my first book was a personal masterpiece, but then when I finished it I realized I had another one in me that might even be better. Who knows, there may be another one after that! But my ultimate goal is not proliferation, it is mastery.
Thanks for the newsletter. My secret for maintaining writing output in a digital age is to block ALL internet for certain times of the day when I have decided to be writing. I do this through an app you may have heard of Cold Turkey--it's absolutely brilliant. One-off payment (£30, not sure what that is in dollars) and you have it for life, it can block any and everything and is extremely hard to get round.
In the same vein, I remember reading that Margaret Attwood has two computers/laptops--one with internet access (and Twitter!) and one without, for writing.
In other news, when I read that in two weeks you’ll be interviewing an author who works part-time to pay the bills so that he can work the other part-time writing webnovels, I did a double-take--because I do that! Are you going to be interviewing me?? In seriousness, let me know if you do ever want to interview me... I do exactly that too, AND I have a wife and a kid to support (though it does help that in this season my wife works full-time and her job comes with a house, and as well as working and writing part-time I am also a part-time househusband...)
Just an update to let you know that I got Cold Turkey and it is AMAZING. My morning writing hours (6am-9am) are officially blocked from everything except what I need to write/reasearch my novels and it feels like instant meditation knowing that this time is reserved away from the internet. Thank you so much for the recommendation!
Haha, my pleasure, Elle! Glad it is helping you. I know lots of ways to make it impossible to get around if you ever accidentally find a workaround, and the creator is very friendly and always replies to emails too. I also use the 'frozen turkey' feature to force shut down my computer from 2200-0600 because there is really no good reason I need to be on it during that time. Let me know if you would ever like to plug my substack fantasy serial+podcast in your newsletter ;) But no pressure!
Interesting app!!!! I might just have to try this thing out. Especially as I write at the same time every morning.
There are so many authors who have an internet-less laptop and I think that says a lot. The internet can be very distracting if used as an observer, rather than a creator.
I'll be curious to read your thoughts on my next post. The part-time writing career definitely seems like a good gig!!!!
Good! I don't subscribe to the 'suffering artist' mentality, whereby everything has to be hard for anything to be worthwhile. Being a healthy writer is important.
Glad to hear you won't be disappearing entirely, though. I think the newsletter concept is ideal for staying connected to a community without needing to be sucked into the social media whirlpool.
As I've committed increasingly to my writing I've primarily cut down on entertainment: games, movies, TV. Often if I'm not doing it with the family, I won't do it at all, whereas a half decade ago I'd have really struggled with that rebalancing. I've also made sure that I keep the reason I write clear in my head: ie, that I want to write. Getting readers is a (big, significant) bonus. Getting paid would be great, but is never the actual goal. I think that's helped me stay on target and not get stressed by less creative targets.
That's what I've loved about newsletters. It's like blogging in the 20 teens, the community is formed around long-form writing, not buzzy social media posts. It just feels like a more "me" place to do things.
I like the reframe around writing vs. getting readers. I still do want readers, if I'm being honest. But concentrating my energy around the place where they live makes more sense to me, than scattering my attention around trying to find them in the great big universe. It's just going to take time!
Absolutely. Did you see SneakyArt's piece on how they see the difference between social media and Reddit? That was very interesting and I think applies somewhat to Substack/newsletters as well - in that social media is inherently performative, and you're performing for your 'followers', which leads to something of an inevitable ego spiral; whereas more specific communities based around a theme or subject or interest (ie, instead of communities that have gathered around a Personality) can lead to healthier and more interesting discourse.
And yes, if I'm being 100% honest I absolutely do want readers, of course. :) But I don't want to make that my measure of success, because that is very likely to lead to stress and burnout and disappointment. So, yes, I definitely want readers, and yes, I would absolutely like to earn money from my writing. But they both have to be products of the main objective, which is to *do some writing*.
If I set that equation differently, and made the main objective to make money or get readers, then I think I'd be less happy and would probably also do worse writing...
Wonderful insights here, Simon, thank you for sharing. I dislike the performative aspects of social media, though "Jane Austen twitter" is actually lovely. But also the constant audience numbers/counting becomes really distracting! I will check out this article you've linked to - thank you again for the thoughts.
"Social media is inherently performative, and you're performing for your 'followers'... whereas more specific communities based around a theme or subject or interest can lead to healthier and more interesting discourse."
YES, absolutely!!!!!! It’s like hosting an intimate dinner party where you can enjoy deeper conversations with your closest friends (newsletter), vs. attending a huge house party where you can have small talk with hundreds of acquaintances (discord), vs. standing out on the sidewalk trying to get people to attend your house party, even though people on the sidewalk don’t know you so they yell back at you (twitter).
Sometimes it's fun to go to the house party, but on a day-to-day basis, I much prefer the intimate crew. 🥰
Totally totally totally. I laughed at the Twitter part.
I’m splitting the reading of this excellent post into a few sessions! There are just so many gems here to glean from. And the links too. Will circle back with a hopefully well-thought out comment. And oh, Adele!
You have no idea how much I love and needed this newsletter, Elle. Thank you for articulating my thoughts so beautifully - every part of it resonated. As an author with my second book released a couple of months ago, I am exactly in the throes of book marketing and trying to get the world to notice me and my book (as narcissistic as that sounds). Sometimes, at best, I felt like I was yelling into the void and putting too much of myself out there. At the worst, it took up so much headspace - all that planning and strategising and marketing and promoting and posting on social media - that I found myself unable to focus on the deep work of writing. This post is a wonderful reminder to retreat from the buzz and return to a space where it's just me and my writing. I hope you find the peace and quiet to discover and create new worlds!
I so relate. I tried to just add "write a new chapter of my novel every week" to my existing task list and it wasn't working at all. 😆 To make matters worse, all of those tasks were things I assigned to myself! Good lord. 🤦♀️
I try to remember: Even Dan Brown retreats to an internet-less room to write!
I really appreciate the idea that you introduce, Elle, that the writing and promoting and so many other things can be cyclical. We can dive in at times, and pull back and retreat at times. Thanks again!
Hi Elle, I'm a couple of months behind with your posts for all the reasons you enumerated. To write fiction I've had to "quit" a lot of things. I don't have any idea what's going on in pop culture. I don't watch TV shows or very many movies. I watch some sports mainly to maintain solidarity with my family (my wife and my son are avid basketball fans) but sometimes those games do run pretty long and I find myself pining to get back to "work." Reading and writing and daydreaming are my default activities and I wish my everyday existence could settle permanently among them. I don't involve myself in social media. I've never cared for the yipping and yapping of the oceanic peanut gallery and, even in the real world, it seems best to resist the pull of an unwinnable argument. In short, I applaud your attempts at retreat, just remember to keep a notebook near at hand.
So far I've found my retreat a bit restless. The pull between writing and getting read just requires a little of both. But I'm still experimenting with what I need to keep, and what I need to leave behind.
Thanks, Elle. What you’ve written in your post has been on & off in my mind. It reminded me to check in on where I am, where I’m going, and what I’m doing!
So far, I’ve culled my daily posting on IG to once a week or so. I’m not cutting IG out yet as I value the new connections I form with other artists. Also, it’s a way to keep in casual contact with friends I usually won’t get to meet in real life.
As for Twitter, it remains a mystery to me...hahaha.
I'm also culling content consumption as increasingly, I find lesser headspace to give quality attention to process what I'm reading. It's kinda new and scary to me. To let go. To recognise and accept that, after I've given energy to my daily writing and drawing work, I don't have huge room left to read many articles, comment on various Discord channels, scroll through feed after feed, etc. I can only select a few where I can mindfully read and engage with. What's enough for the day is—enough.
Now, taking a cue from you, I want to extend it to a longer period where I'm freer to create.
Last but not least, thanks for sharing my article in your post. We inspire each other! 🌟
"What's enough for the day is—enough" <- this is perfect. It can be hard to give up specific things (Twitter, certain publications, etc.). It's much easier to prioritize the important things for that day, and then let the rest fall off!
I'm still learning what things feel worth some effort, but mostly I feel ike only my newsletter, and then my creative projects outside of my newsletter, are worth my time and devotion!
Thank you for sharing all of this Elle. As a Substack sister, one of the most encouraging aspects of being in the Substack community is hearing from writers on this platform that they feel they are WRITERS first, and curators of conversation, second. Many of us are introverts and have to be in some really quiet spaces to indulge that creativity - but yet the community and conversation is also such a joy. This kind of sharing and dialogue really helps us to navigate it all in a healthy, productive - and artistic - way. Thanks, and please do not feel obligated to reply to this comment, lol - hope you are away somewhere reading!
"Today, it feels unending. Like I need to become a Twitter celebrity and a Discord networking guru and put a newsletter out every weekend to become the next great American novelist—because that’s what it takes to get noticed by readers and garner the attention of The New York Times and sell the film rights to Hello Sunshine. And I do believe that is true to some extent."
100%. The one not-so-great aspect of all of this is that when you post new chapters and other content and then don't see an enormous increase in comments/subscribers/likes/followers, it gets really discouraging! Then I need to remind myself that, however trite it sounds, it's a marathon, not a sprint.
In terms of giving things up while book writing, I try to just block out time (it used to be first thing in the morning at a coffee shop near my office) where I only write and don't check anything else. That's become harder to do now that I work from home.
Yes, when you stop seeing traction that can be discouraging. But maybe it also just means that it's time to write the next thing. 🤩
I like the morning block-out time, that's what I do too! (With the cold turkey app now, thanks to the comments here, to reinforce my better habits).
Yes exactly! I'm getting back to actually writing this week (instead of preparing the stuff I already wrote) and was surprised at how excited I was to start again after reading the last stuff I wrote.
Oh it's SO much more fun!
I hope that you find complete peace and complete creativity!
As you think about fandom, this is one of my favorite stories. In the late 1990s, Mariah Carey made the bold decision to hire Bree Nguyen, a 16-year-old superfan, to join her team.
https://gettogether.world/articles/mirah-carey
Wow, this is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing Katie!
This was so inspiring. Social media, connecting, throwing myself out there...it feels so heavy sometimes. I find it comforting to know other creatives feel the same way. This has given me the push to dive back into writing on my own schedule, without the pressure to share every facet of it. ❤️
I so agree. 🥰
This is an incredibly healthy strategy and outlook. Trying to do it all continually is a recipe for burnout or an unfulfilling life. Artists need breaks to thrive and create. The current accepted "path to writing success" doesn't allow breaks. So I reject it. A good life is a far better pursuit than a best-seller list.
Another great newsletter. Quality over quantity is fine with me.
"A good life is a far better pursuit than a best-seller list." ->Well said!
You always make me think and re-evalute. Which is awesome.
I love this essay! I'm an introvert and can work on long writing projects, but it really tires me when communicating on social media. Super envious that you are working remotely from Costa Rica!! Think of us when you are there :)
I'm so with you. And thank you!!! I'm very into the whole remote work thing that has been going on. 🥰
Thank you for this, Elle! I'm embarking on a 12-day silent meditation retreat this December. No talking, no eye contact, no technology, no writing, no reading. Nothing but 11 hours a day of meditation. I can't wait. And I can't wait to see what you create.
I LOVE THAT!!!!!! Although I think without writing I wouldn't be able to process anything! I'd just be sitting in a busy mind with no outlet for it. Though maybe that is the point?
Either way, I love the intention around setting some silence in your life. You'll probably come back so refreshed and creative!
Wishing you well during this next season of writing. If you’re up to reading, Wintering by Katherine May is beautiful. Helped me reframe winter from a noun, to a verb.
I LOVE THAT BOOK!!!!! I read it last winter and it completely changed my life. I'll be re-reading it this winter too!
Enjoy the stillness!
I think of finding time to write as less about what do I give up and more about how do I prioritize. I create a regular schedule for myself, because writing is high priority, and other leisure activities happen around writing. But I also check-in with myself regularly to make sure my priorities haven’t changed.
I love that!!!!! I do prioritize writing. But I have to prioritize living, to prioritize writing, if that makes sense? I do my mornings for writing, but I kind of need the rest of my life to be unstructured and creative, so that I actually have something to write about the next day.
Oh, to be clear, I think you’re 100% right to prioritize your health, well-being, and inner peace over writing. I do, too! It’s the most important thing IMHO. In addition to inspiration, it also helps prevent burnout, and makes life worth living! I love writing, but it’s hard work.
Yes, this exactly!!!!!!!
Hi Elle,
I missed your regular posts, it seems like you have disappeared forever into the void.
Good to see you pop in and post.
I must say you sure have a lot you want to achieve ! are you sure will not burn out trying to achieve all those goals?
I take a different approach, I focus on 2 things only, so I do not give up anything - and it works, no stress, no change of heart, you just cruise along. I do not want to give up the internet - now way mam
With writing, I write every day for an hour, it is the best way to connect to your subconscious and the material you write down is amazing - did I really write that ? and so entertaining too. The challenege is collate all the material and connect the dots and revise/edit - a different skill to writing, in fact there is always a layer to add, whern reviewing every day and the possibilities are endless.
I recently saw this: Eternal Truths , very profound and moving.
https://thetcj.org/in-residence-articles/eschatological-laundry-list
If you love writing , just write forget about marketing 101.
Your success has it own timeline, so why stress ?
cheers
Nicholas
I'm not lost to the void! Though I do apologize for missing my newsletter last week. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with this one by the time my deadline rolled around and decided and extra week would make the whole thing better. And it did!
I like your strategy! What are the only two things you are focusing on?
1.) Reading ( which Nabokov said is really re-reading (read like a writer) - harder than writing and it takes longer - whith considered questions and thoughtful reflection about the body of work ; a sort of analysis if you will - if it is good enough for a nobel laureate, then it good enough for me to extract and adapt that skill)
2.) writing 1 hour a day 365 days a year - master the narrative with short stories, important to stick to the time limit to focus on efficent writing making every word count ! Prevents you from meandering with laser like focus .Soon you will have a portfolio of work to present to a publisher
there is a 3rd, music composition, but that is tied in with (2) - if I have s tory to tell, then I put it in music, a narrative in sounds.
keep up the great newsletter Elle,
I am, gald I discovered you and your talent !
have a serene day
Nicholas
I love it!!! I do time-based goals as well. Every morning is my writing time. The rest of my life has to be unstructured and epicurean (though that does mean I read A LOT because I love it so!)
Can't wait to hear more about the music!!!!!!
Amost finished writing part 1 of Madame De Vincent Reverie of the Gothique Suite (dedicated to Elle) : it is moody reflective, uneasy and troubling with a glimmer of hope. I will have to perform it . So where do I send it ? Part 2 will a longing reflection. I will advise when that is complete.
Keep writing, I need more imagery !
Nicholas
I CANNOT WAIT. Just email me! Novelleist@gmail.com.
Oh, one other thought: I used to think that I would try and write two or three masterpieces, rather than lots of lots of books. Then I wrote two or three books, and I realised I had lots more to learn. So now, following advice and mentoring from writers, I am trying to write lots a lots. In fact, have you heard the advice that you need to write 1,000,000 words of crap before you get good? I've taken it to heart, so I'm trying to write a 1,000,000 word webnovel (which, while I am trying to make it as good as it can possibly be, may well be crap), and then I'll have a go at writing some masterpieces. That seems to be the way that things work for most people in today's writing world, unless you're a Tolkien or a Rowling. But fair play to you if you manage the small number of masterpieces approach! I don't know; maybe the trick is to write millions of words behind the scenes, and only show people the masterpeices......
Well I don't think it's necessarily a small number of masterpieces, it's just that even one would be really amazing. I felt that my first book was a personal masterpiece, but then when I finished it I realized I had another one in me that might even be better. Who knows, there may be another one after that! But my ultimate goal is not proliferation, it is mastery.
Hi Elle,
Thanks for the newsletter. My secret for maintaining writing output in a digital age is to block ALL internet for certain times of the day when I have decided to be writing. I do this through an app you may have heard of Cold Turkey--it's absolutely brilliant. One-off payment (£30, not sure what that is in dollars) and you have it for life, it can block any and everything and is extremely hard to get round.
In the same vein, I remember reading that Margaret Attwood has two computers/laptops--one with internet access (and Twitter!) and one without, for writing.
In other news, when I read that in two weeks you’ll be interviewing an author who works part-time to pay the bills so that he can work the other part-time writing webnovels, I did a double-take--because I do that! Are you going to be interviewing me?? In seriousness, let me know if you do ever want to interview me... I do exactly that too, AND I have a wife and a kid to support (though it does help that in this season my wife works full-time and her job comes with a house, and as well as working and writing part-time I am also a part-time househusband...)
Best wishes,
Faenon (Luke)
Just an update to let you know that I got Cold Turkey and it is AMAZING. My morning writing hours (6am-9am) are officially blocked from everything except what I need to write/reasearch my novels and it feels like instant meditation knowing that this time is reserved away from the internet. Thank you so much for the recommendation!
Haha, my pleasure, Elle! Glad it is helping you. I know lots of ways to make it impossible to get around if you ever accidentally find a workaround, and the creator is very friendly and always replies to emails too. I also use the 'frozen turkey' feature to force shut down my computer from 2200-0600 because there is really no good reason I need to be on it during that time. Let me know if you would ever like to plug my substack fantasy serial+podcast in your newsletter ;) But no pressure!
It's seriously great. It has forced me to keep that time sacred. A few solid hours away from the world can work wonders for writing!
Interesting app!!!! I might just have to try this thing out. Especially as I write at the same time every morning.
There are so many authors who have an internet-less laptop and I think that says a lot. The internet can be very distracting if used as an observer, rather than a creator.
I'll be curious to read your thoughts on my next post. The part-time writing career definitely seems like a good gig!!!!
Good! I don't subscribe to the 'suffering artist' mentality, whereby everything has to be hard for anything to be worthwhile. Being a healthy writer is important.
Glad to hear you won't be disappearing entirely, though. I think the newsletter concept is ideal for staying connected to a community without needing to be sucked into the social media whirlpool.
As I've committed increasingly to my writing I've primarily cut down on entertainment: games, movies, TV. Often if I'm not doing it with the family, I won't do it at all, whereas a half decade ago I'd have really struggled with that rebalancing. I've also made sure that I keep the reason I write clear in my head: ie, that I want to write. Getting readers is a (big, significant) bonus. Getting paid would be great, but is never the actual goal. I think that's helped me stay on target and not get stressed by less creative targets.
That's what I've loved about newsletters. It's like blogging in the 20 teens, the community is formed around long-form writing, not buzzy social media posts. It just feels like a more "me" place to do things.
I like the reframe around writing vs. getting readers. I still do want readers, if I'm being honest. But concentrating my energy around the place where they live makes more sense to me, than scattering my attention around trying to find them in the great big universe. It's just going to take time!
Absolutely. Did you see SneakyArt's piece on how they see the difference between social media and Reddit? That was very interesting and I think applies somewhat to Substack/newsletters as well - in that social media is inherently performative, and you're performing for your 'followers', which leads to something of an inevitable ego spiral; whereas more specific communities based around a theme or subject or interest (ie, instead of communities that have gathered around a Personality) can lead to healthier and more interesting discourse.
Now, evidently Reddit has its own issues, but the core argument I thought was very interesting! https://www.sneakyartist.com/blog/reddit-101
And yes, if I'm being 100% honest I absolutely do want readers, of course. :) But I don't want to make that my measure of success, because that is very likely to lead to stress and burnout and disappointment. So, yes, I definitely want readers, and yes, I would absolutely like to earn money from my writing. But they both have to be products of the main objective, which is to *do some writing*.
If I set that equation differently, and made the main objective to make money or get readers, then I think I'd be less happy and would probably also do worse writing...
Wonderful insights here, Simon, thank you for sharing. I dislike the performative aspects of social media, though "Jane Austen twitter" is actually lovely. But also the constant audience numbers/counting becomes really distracting! I will check out this article you've linked to - thank you again for the thoughts.
"Social media is inherently performative, and you're performing for your 'followers'... whereas more specific communities based around a theme or subject or interest can lead to healthier and more interesting discourse."
YES, absolutely!!!!!! It’s like hosting an intimate dinner party where you can enjoy deeper conversations with your closest friends (newsletter), vs. attending a huge house party where you can have small talk with hundreds of acquaintances (discord), vs. standing out on the sidewalk trying to get people to attend your house party, even though people on the sidewalk don’t know you so they yell back at you (twitter).
Sometimes it's fun to go to the house party, but on a day-to-day basis, I much prefer the intimate crew. 🥰
Exactly!! Love your analogy. Sometimes the big house party is what you want, but usually: not. !
Totally....
Totally totally totally. I laughed at the Twitter part.
I’m splitting the reading of this excellent post into a few sessions! There are just so many gems here to glean from. And the links too. Will circle back with a hopefully well-thought out comment. And oh, Adele!
You have no idea how much I love and needed this newsletter, Elle. Thank you for articulating my thoughts so beautifully - every part of it resonated. As an author with my second book released a couple of months ago, I am exactly in the throes of book marketing and trying to get the world to notice me and my book (as narcissistic as that sounds). Sometimes, at best, I felt like I was yelling into the void and putting too much of myself out there. At the worst, it took up so much headspace - all that planning and strategising and marketing and promoting and posting on social media - that I found myself unable to focus on the deep work of writing. This post is a wonderful reminder to retreat from the buzz and return to a space where it's just me and my writing. I hope you find the peace and quiet to discover and create new worlds!
I so relate. I tried to just add "write a new chapter of my novel every week" to my existing task list and it wasn't working at all. 😆 To make matters worse, all of those tasks were things I assigned to myself! Good lord. 🤦♀️
I try to remember: Even Dan Brown retreats to an internet-less room to write!
I really appreciate the idea that you introduce, Elle, that the writing and promoting and so many other things can be cyclical. We can dive in at times, and pull back and retreat at times. Thanks again!