Maybe gimmick-y but the first thought when I finished your oh-so-vital-words-today essay was, "Oh, so I'm more than a writer. I'm a Writer Artist. Make that Write-ist." Or Writist? I don't know. Weird, but works for me. Writers observe and listen, then create their own word symphonies. We're all conductors. Thanks for reading my weirdness.
I needed to hear this, after getting some criticism that I should be expanding my essays to showcase other things, when really all I want to do here is write the stuff that's most important to me. And I'm going to get rid of those silly subscribe / share / comment buttons in the middle of the text! I did that because it was advised, but it's been bothering me for awhile, and I like your advice a whole lot better.
Anyone here have thoughts on pictures added throughout a piece? I’m a visual person, so I tend to enjoy those as I think they can help enhance the experience/story being told. It seems different than a call to action, but I wonder if others find them distracting?
Thank you for sharing exactly what I have been thinking. I have written with ease and flow and then just as I press to publish I am reminded that I haven't added any buttons so off I go to find some suitable buttons and some suitable places to place them. No more. If you like what I am writing then great, hit subscribe (at the bottom) and if you don't then never mind. I will keep on writing, not creating content anyway... I always appreciate your words thankyou xx
You know how I feel about "content" — so with you on that!
In my Substack posts, I do often include images, poems or quotes from others, and even videos. I only do it to enhance and illustrate what I'm saying, because they fit with what I'm writing about and I want to share them with others. I actually included two videos in my post today: https://flowerchild.substack.com/p/what-to-do-with-fear
Sometimes I worry that doing this distracts from my writing, but it's like when I'm talking to someone and I want to show them a cool video or quote I saw that's related to what we're talking about — for me, it's part of the conversation that I feel I'm having when I write.
I love everything about this. Thank you so much for reminding me that Substack can be a place for me, even if I’m not “working it” to grow my subscribers.
Thinking, thinking, thinking... On the spectrum between content creator and artist, you'll absolutely find me trying to rub elbows with folks like you and [most of] your readers, the creatives, the artists. I don't have the energy to do this any other way.
I also do not have the luxury of making a living with this endeavor, and when I acknowledge the personal sales effort that appears to be necessary for that to become even moderately possible, I become slightly less certain about how to maintain a strictly rhythm-driven approach. The two feel contradictory.
Mostly, though, I believe you are right that the only appropriate time to remind our readers that art is more than a one-way activity is at the end, when the concert is over, after they have, hopefully, been transformed by the experience and are eager to share that enthusiasm.
Not needing to sort out where to stick a "Comment" button in the middle of a story will be a wonderful relief. But, I think I'm going to have to hold onto photos and the occasional video. 😌
I was trained to lay out a newspaper, where the constraints for storytelling really did bring out something special. A well-placed pull quote in a balanced 1,500 word story? Yum. Maybe a shorter sidebar personality feature? Chef's kiss 😘 .
Your post here points out how many of those tools we can use in Substack, but the effective application of them is pretty limited. There's just not room to make art and symmetry here. We're probably best to stay in touch with this rhythm (concert) of good storytelling and using our spidey senses to decide if an intrusion makes sense. Much of the time, visually, it doesn't enhance anything.
Perspective and focus. I appreciate your words and reminders. I won’t interrupt my flow anymore🙌🏽. Being new here and a new career writer, I definitely adopted other “successful” writers’ habits without even fully solidifying my own first or identifying my why, what, and how. Just because a feature exists doesn’t mean I need to use it. Just because others do it, I don’t have to.
Lovely
This is excellent content. :)
Maybe gimmick-y but the first thought when I finished your oh-so-vital-words-today essay was, "Oh, so I'm more than a writer. I'm a Writer Artist. Make that Write-ist." Or Writist? I don't know. Weird, but works for me. Writers observe and listen, then create their own word symphonies. We're all conductors. Thanks for reading my weirdness.
I needed to hear this, after getting some criticism that I should be expanding my essays to showcase other things, when really all I want to do here is write the stuff that's most important to me. And I'm going to get rid of those silly subscribe / share / comment buttons in the middle of the text! I did that because it was advised, but it's been bothering me for awhile, and I like your advice a whole lot better.
Whenever I read your words, I feel seen... 🥹
Anyone here have thoughts on pictures added throughout a piece? I’m a visual person, so I tend to enjoy those as I think they can help enhance the experience/story being told. It seems different than a call to action, but I wonder if others find them distracting?
Great stuff, Ramona. I absolutely view what I create as art, not "content" (although I've made plenty of the latter over the years too).
How do you feel about the noun "creatives"?
Perfection in every word. Thank you for reminding us. Sometimes we need a spanking!
Thank you for sharing exactly what I have been thinking. I have written with ease and flow and then just as I press to publish I am reminded that I haven't added any buttons so off I go to find some suitable buttons and some suitable places to place them. No more. If you like what I am writing then great, hit subscribe (at the bottom) and if you don't then never mind. I will keep on writing, not creating content anyway... I always appreciate your words thankyou xx
You know how I feel about "content" — so with you on that!
In my Substack posts, I do often include images, poems or quotes from others, and even videos. I only do it to enhance and illustrate what I'm saying, because they fit with what I'm writing about and I want to share them with others. I actually included two videos in my post today: https://flowerchild.substack.com/p/what-to-do-with-fear
Sometimes I worry that doing this distracts from my writing, but it's like when I'm talking to someone and I want to show them a cool video or quote I saw that's related to what we're talking about — for me, it's part of the conversation that I feel I'm having when I write.
I love everything about this. Thank you so much for reminding me that Substack can be a place for me, even if I’m not “working it” to grow my subscribers.
Thinking, thinking, thinking... On the spectrum between content creator and artist, you'll absolutely find me trying to rub elbows with folks like you and [most of] your readers, the creatives, the artists. I don't have the energy to do this any other way.
I also do not have the luxury of making a living with this endeavor, and when I acknowledge the personal sales effort that appears to be necessary for that to become even moderately possible, I become slightly less certain about how to maintain a strictly rhythm-driven approach. The two feel contradictory.
Mostly, though, I believe you are right that the only appropriate time to remind our readers that art is more than a one-way activity is at the end, when the concert is over, after they have, hopefully, been transformed by the experience and are eager to share that enthusiasm.
Not needing to sort out where to stick a "Comment" button in the middle of a story will be a wonderful relief. But, I think I'm going to have to hold onto photos and the occasional video. 😌
I was trained to lay out a newspaper, where the constraints for storytelling really did bring out something special. A well-placed pull quote in a balanced 1,500 word story? Yum. Maybe a shorter sidebar personality feature? Chef's kiss 😘 .
Your post here points out how many of those tools we can use in Substack, but the effective application of them is pretty limited. There's just not room to make art and symmetry here. We're probably best to stay in touch with this rhythm (concert) of good storytelling and using our spidey senses to decide if an intrusion makes sense. Much of the time, visually, it doesn't enhance anything.
Perspective and focus. I appreciate your words and reminders. I won’t interrupt my flow anymore🙌🏽. Being new here and a new career writer, I definitely adopted other “successful” writers’ habits without even fully solidifying my own first or identifying my why, what, and how. Just because a feature exists doesn’t mean I need to use it. Just because others do it, I don’t have to.
Well said! Now excuse me while I go move some buttons in some drafts! 😳