8 Questions for... Holly Starley

Holly Starley's Rolling Desk

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

I’d love for us all to fall madly in love with ourselves and to know nothing human is alien to us. I believe we’re all connected by mycelial-like strands good writing can make shimmer. I write and edit and teach editing and roam to find myself in the beings we share this world with, in you, and for that glorious rush that comes when words pour between us and we see each other, ourselves anew. I’ve lived nomadically out of a backpack, on a bike, in an RV, in a truck, and in a van. Much of my writing comes from those treks.

Holly Starley

writes Holly Starley’s Rolling Desk

1.     Why Substack?

In a class on pitching to magazines in early 2023, the instructor mentioned her Substack. “Start a Substack” took its place at the bottom of a deeply tiered pile of to-do lists. I eventually started poking around on the platform. In June, after soliciting pre-subscriptions from friends and family, along with the 23 subscribers to my blog Road Quill, I sent “The Column That Wasn’t” to 56 inboxes, my heart aflutter.

My why at the time? Find an audience. Give nearly completed pieces the stark relief of a finger poised over a “send now” button. Impose deadlines on my practice. 

My why now? Nurture the deep connections I’ve formed. Keep learning from and creating alongside the brilliant minds, hearts, and words I’ve discovered. Discover more. Connect more. Be in conversation with contemporary writers here on this modern version of great literary circles. Be a citizen of the world, which is to say strengthen ties and read with and engage with the perspectives of writers in disparate places, geographically and otherwise and remain keenly aware we’re all in it together. Ha! Nothing too lofty.

PS. I changed the name from Road Quill to Rolling Desk because of how often I had to explain the title. Should have realized a bunch of writers and readers are the perfect audience for the Quill. Not that I don’t adore Rolling Desk. 

2.     How long did it take you to find your groove?

The thing about groove, for me, is it’s a yes/and thing. I’m at once always in my groove and always finding it. Which is to say my groove is sometimes smooth, sometimes awkward, always evolving.

3.     How has it changed you?

Sooooo much. Those connections I mentioned earlier have transformed my world, both personally and professionally.

I’ve only half joked about taking Ruby van Jangles (in whose belly the original rolling desk was born) on a Substack tour. (I’d be rolling in my new van, Vivian van Gogh, now.) Just imagine the cuppas and vistas and conversations I’d share in every US state and throughout Canada. Then I’d have to park Viv and take a flight or two dozen for a multi-continent leg, including the UK (you know I’d be heading your way, Eleanor), Spain, France, Sweden, Scotland, Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, India, Nigeria, and Egypt, to name a few. Maybe the South American tour could be by train. Doesn’t it sound dreamy? Anyone else want to join?

Which brings me to the Caravan. I’ve joined forces with three incredibly talented writers/teachers, whose work I found via this platform, to launch Caravan Writers Collective, a project founded on our shared belief in the transformative power of good writing. Having taken each other’s classes and availed ourselves of each other’s expertise, not to mention fallen in love with each other’s writing, we realized what a boon that kind of support is. We saw, too, a need—to make the intricacies of the profession of writing more accessible. Hence, the Caravan. I’m super excited to see what unfolds.

Plus, on a personal note, in late 2023, a change to my health took me by surprise and sort of pulled the rug out from under me career wise. So the Caravan couldn’t have rolled up at a better time.

Finally, I have to point once more to the exquisite writing you can find on this platform. The words of both well-known writers and those I’d have likely not discovered otherwise now live in my heart, fill my reading hours, and inform my thinking and creating. One new Substack slogan says, “The media isn’t dead. It’s on Substack.” I dig it. Yes, the media’s here. And also the conversation’s here. And it’s a gorgeous conversation.

4.     What mistakes have you made?

Many, I’m certain. 

I was gonna be cheeky and say only that. But I’ve enjoyed reading what others see as mistakes, so I’ll list a couple. Especially in earlier days, I published a few pieces that weren’t quite ready. While deep in the early throes of my health challenge, I hosted a series of online workshops on self-editing—a subject I absolutely adore teaching. But the launch was off, timing wise. And the series was shorter than planned. It’s terribly irksome to feel I may have overpromised / underdelivered. 

I don’t believe it’s a mistake, but I expect if fast growth were a higher priority, I’d be wise to be less broad. Rolling Desk essentially publishes four categories of pieces—life in a van, travel and nomadic life in other forms, living with an autoimmune disease, and collaborative work (a collection of stories on the kindness of strangers, often by guest authors; interviews and profiles; and curated lists). I suspect a more focused approach would promote more rapid growth.

5.     To pay or not to pay?

To pay for sure. For one, writing is work. It takes time and dedication. I recently published a piece on the Rolling Desk, “Lucky,” that I’ve written on and off for three years.

Two, writing is invaluable. A cultural shift around the way we value art would make the world a better place. If good art, good writing shapes us / our worlds, it stands to reason we want more of it. And if indie artists and publishers were more highly esteemed—and monetary reward is a primary way we show esteem—more would be able to put their work into the flow of public consciousness.

I’d love it if we all could be paid well for our work. And I take out paid subscriptions and buy the books of as many of my fellow writers here as I can afford and will do so more as my ability to do so increases. 

6.     What artistic and technical choices have you made?

My career has included positions as managing editor for various projects. Among my favorite was a mini-magazine, Quick Release, on bicycling advocacy. I adored much of that work—overseeing a long-term editorial calendar, weaving subtle themes both through individual issues and over multiple issues, setting style guides, collaborating with designers on artistic direction, and assigning projects to and working with other writers and artists. So I’ve enjoyed incorporating a bit of that into Rolling Desk.

Imagery and audio are two examples. Posts are illustrated with either photography from my travels or artwork available in the public domain.¹ Because I love audio and have a background in radio, I read much of my work. The Rolling Desk podcast is available on platforms like Spotify.

The narrative voice / persona of Rolling Desk is—how to say this?—slightly gentler, slightly more constrained than that of other writing I do.

Lastly, I love publishing work of other authors on the desk. It’s an opportunity to promote writing I love and believe my readers would love, to feature both writers I aspire to and emerging writers. Have you a story on the kindness of strangers? Submit it here. 

7.     What’s been the effect on your writing?

I’ve made a career in the world of writing—editing manuscripts, managing small publications, ghost and collaborative writing, writing instruction, and briefly journalism. Yet much of this work has been adjacent to my primary writing goal: I’d always meant to be a literary and travel writer. For years, I told myself, Soon.

Publishing on Substack has deepened my practice and exploration of craft and opened the floodgate I was keeping closed: I’m partway through two memoirs (one in book proposal stage), with a third in early stages. I’m submitting regularly to literary journals and contests. And recently I’ve had the opportunity to go back to two founding roots—journalism and instruction. I hope to reveal more about the former soon. And, of course, Caravan Writers Collective is the latter. 

8.     In it for the long haul?

Absolutely!

1. Here’s a resource list for finding art, most of which I got from someone who I’d love to credit if I could remember who he was: Wikiart, The Met Open Access, The Getty Open Content Program,The National Gallery of Art Open Access, The Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access, and Europeana. Thank you, friend!