I never really considered the link between writing and the peristaltic process of expelling waste ... but you make a good point: both involve something you need to get out before moving on with the day, week, month, whatever.
SS is indeed relentless in pushing us to promote our sites, but I've never felt comfortable holding my hand out or selling tickets to the show, such as it is. You're right: the transactional nature of trading words for money creates pressure to produce -- in essence turning a SS into a shop or job rather than a place to play, which inevitably leaches the joy from the process of creation. It's a low-key joy to be sure, but we take what we can get these days.
So, more power to you! Disengage from The Substack Promotion Machine and write what you want whenever the spirit moves. So to speak...
"A place to play", I like this idea...! Changes everything... :) There are some people here who "make a living" off Substack apparently - and good for them! I think they are the outliers tho, already with careers in journalism etc who reel in their readership... and so to constantly prod everyone with a "how to grow your audience" formula with Celebrity Writers as carrot is just silly... If we all do the same dance, what separate SS from TikTok ??
I respect those who are trying to make a living on their writing -- it's a hard path to follow, so more power to them. Once, when I was much younger, I too thought I wanted to shift from working (in the film industry) to writing for a living, but when the book that resulted from that effort received no more than a polite sniff from a few agents, I reconsidered. It was only then that I realized I didn't actually want to turn writing into my job -- that it was better for me to work in the film industry for a living and be free to write whatever I wanted in my spare time without a nervous editor or publisher breathing down my neck. When it comes to Substack, my feeling is that if people like what they find on my site, they'll come back for more -- and if not, they won't. Either way, that's fine. I write because I want to, which is reason enough.
I never really considered the link between writing and the peristaltic process of expelling waste ... but you make a good point: both involve something you need to get out before moving on with the day, week, month, whatever.
SS is indeed relentless in pushing us to promote our sites, but I've never felt comfortable holding my hand out or selling tickets to the show, such as it is. You're right: the transactional nature of trading words for money creates pressure to produce -- in essence turning a SS into a shop or job rather than a place to play, which inevitably leaches the joy from the process of creation. It's a low-key joy to be sure, but we take what we can get these days.
So, more power to you! Disengage from The Substack Promotion Machine and write what you want whenever the spirit moves. So to speak...
"A place to play", I like this idea...! Changes everything... :) There are some people here who "make a living" off Substack apparently - and good for them! I think they are the outliers tho, already with careers in journalism etc who reel in their readership... and so to constantly prod everyone with a "how to grow your audience" formula with Celebrity Writers as carrot is just silly... If we all do the same dance, what separate SS from TikTok ??
I respect those who are trying to make a living on their writing -- it's a hard path to follow, so more power to them. Once, when I was much younger, I too thought I wanted to shift from working (in the film industry) to writing for a living, but when the book that resulted from that effort received no more than a polite sniff from a few agents, I reconsidered. It was only then that I realized I didn't actually want to turn writing into my job -- that it was better for me to work in the film industry for a living and be free to write whatever I wanted in my spare time without a nervous editor or publisher breathing down my neck. When it comes to Substack, my feeling is that if people like what they find on my site, they'll come back for more -- and if not, they won't. Either way, that's fine. I write because I want to, which is reason enough.