My goodness! What a gift. After two years on Substack I FINALLY know how to structure mine, and you just validated a couple months of angst. Girl you have already helped!
Your THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS were substantially better than most thoughts and prayers, because they ACTUALLY WORKED! Love the kaleidoscopic panorama of insights. But then again, that's what I ALWAYS come here for! THANKS!!!
Wow! Just discovered you. I've been sitting with an account on Substack, writing nothing because... well, I don't know why, I have no excuse. Thanks for the prompt.
I thank whatever Deity is out there for the writings that you put up here 'cause I learn a little more every time (not to mention that your writing is always a pleasure to read!)
I do have to ask, though: are the prayers inspired by The Artist's Way? Because I'm halfway through that book and the prayers sound remarkably like what Julia Cameron tells people to write!
Josh Hartnett needs to be in more movies. Seriously underrated actor.
Awww thanks so much ❤️❤️ Haha not specifically actually - but I can see how they can sound similar. I guess mine have a healthy dose of sarcasm in them. yesssss Josh
Incidentally, was the 42 a reference to Hitchhiker's Guide? Cause at least in this context, 42 Substack Thoughts and Prayers definitely feels like the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything (the Ultimate Question being "How Do You Substack?")
This is the best Substack-help post ever! It's the perfect list of advice (and thoughts and prayers) for a Substack writer just starting out or one who is still searching for their own unique voice!
Love this one: "At the heart of all the “tips and tricks and tactics” is the idea that you have to be relentlessly marketing your job. It’s exhausting, it doesn’t scale, and most importantly, it’s not what I want most people to know about me or what I do. Don’t do that. When I’m asking people to subscribe to my Substack, I’m not just asking them to support me, I’m also asking them to go along with my vision for how I want to contribute to the conversation, and that’s a big ask."
Oh this is very good advice, thank you for sharing! After years of writing and creating content for other companies, I'm finding it surprisingly hard to find my own voice. Very much appreciating the reminder it's okay if it takes a leetle while, and that now's a great time to play and experiment.
Of course! Ultimately, I think to find your voice, you find the subject that makes you lose your composure. The writers with the most distinctive voices are almost always the ones writing about the things they can't maintain professional distance from. Joan Didion's voice crystallized when she started writing about California as someone who was from there and grieving it, simultaneously. James Baldwin's voice became Baldwin's voice when he stopped trying to write like a European intellectual and let the sermon in. The subject that makes you drop your guard is the subject that reveals how you actually think...with all the digressions and contradictions and weird associative leaps intact. So find that subject in you and have fun 💕
Appreciate the thoughtful reply! Think you're spot on - Joan Didion is one of my favourite writers and she is at her best when leaning into discomfort for both the reader and herself. This has given me a little boost to publish something I've been sitting on that was hard to write - thank you.
My goodness! What a gift. After two years on Substack I FINALLY know how to structure mine, and you just validated a couple months of angst. Girl you have already helped!
just subscribed to the treatments can't wait to check it out thnk u for the rec 🫶
(Seriously though, thank you, Sophie; infinite gratitude for being in your digital company ❤️)
my pleasure of course ❤️ ❤️
Your THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS were substantially better than most thoughts and prayers, because they ACTUALLY WORKED! Love the kaleidoscopic panorama of insights. But then again, that's what I ALWAYS come here for! THANKS!!!
Much love, John 🫶🏼
Wow! Just discovered you. I've been sitting with an account on Substack, writing nothing because... well, I don't know why, I have no excuse. Thanks for the prompt.
My pleasure 💕 it's never late to get started!
happened upon this and found it SO much more insightful than any "guru" has ever been.
music to my ears 🥹🥹🥹
re no.15 - it's actually embarrassing how bad their search function is.
right? It can't be that hard!!
Subscribed!
omg thank you so much 🥹❤️
I thank whatever Deity is out there for the writings that you put up here 'cause I learn a little more every time (not to mention that your writing is always a pleasure to read!)
I do have to ask, though: are the prayers inspired by The Artist's Way? Because I'm halfway through that book and the prayers sound remarkably like what Julia Cameron tells people to write!
Josh Hartnett needs to be in more movies. Seriously underrated actor.
Awww thanks so much ❤️❤️ Haha not specifically actually - but I can see how they can sound similar. I guess mine have a healthy dose of sarcasm in them. yesssss Josh
Incidentally, was the 42 a reference to Hitchhiker's Guide? Cause at least in this context, 42 Substack Thoughts and Prayers definitely feels like the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything (the Ultimate Question being "How Do You Substack?")
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! I’m starting out and this is a great encouragement.
This is the best Substack-help post ever! It's the perfect list of advice (and thoughts and prayers) for a Substack writer just starting out or one who is still searching for their own unique voice!
Love this one: "At the heart of all the “tips and tricks and tactics” is the idea that you have to be relentlessly marketing your job. It’s exhausting, it doesn’t scale, and most importantly, it’s not what I want most people to know about me or what I do. Don’t do that. When I’m asking people to subscribe to my Substack, I’m not just asking them to support me, I’m also asking them to go along with my vision for how I want to contribute to the conversation, and that’s a big ask."
Oh this is very good advice, thank you for sharing! After years of writing and creating content for other companies, I'm finding it surprisingly hard to find my own voice. Very much appreciating the reminder it's okay if it takes a leetle while, and that now's a great time to play and experiment.
Of course! Ultimately, I think to find your voice, you find the subject that makes you lose your composure. The writers with the most distinctive voices are almost always the ones writing about the things they can't maintain professional distance from. Joan Didion's voice crystallized when she started writing about California as someone who was from there and grieving it, simultaneously. James Baldwin's voice became Baldwin's voice when he stopped trying to write like a European intellectual and let the sermon in. The subject that makes you drop your guard is the subject that reveals how you actually think...with all the digressions and contradictions and weird associative leaps intact. So find that subject in you and have fun 💕
Appreciate the thoughtful reply! Think you're spot on - Joan Didion is one of my favourite writers and she is at her best when leaning into discomfort for both the reader and herself. This has given me a little boost to publish something I've been sitting on that was hard to write - thank you.
Yesssss exactly my point!! So important to make yourself memorable