Absolutely love this series. And although I’m a visual artist (rather than writer) this point Joshua makes is crucial for all of us in world of wide web: “But you know how Facebook or Instagram can infiltrate your thoughts, so that you see every private moment as a potential status update or post? I don't want Substack to have that effect on my writing. I want my creative center to remain my own.”
Loved this. I love the whole series because it's such an inside baseball into other writers' thinking and approach to writing. It's amazing how everyone is grappling with a lot of the same questions no matter how different our logistical realities around our writing seems from the outside.
Joshua, I found your takes on both branding and the difficulty in "planning" pieces especially pertinent and relatable.
I feel this: "But this is the kind of extrinsic reward that I'm supposed to be recovering from in my departure from academe! So the boom/bust cycle kind of messed me up for a while." Substack offers extrinsic measures aplenty, but the greater value here (I think, I hope) is that the robust and free tools allow us to experiment - if we can just turn off the habit of extrinsic measures.
In publishing as in academia, power, prestige, and profit seem to be on the side of numbers. The offset to that seems to be the community of like minds that we find here. We get to reinforce each other's conviction that we do not live on numbers. They have zero nutritive value. Thank you, Josh, for the reminder!
All of it slaps but this is particularly good: “Branding is anathema to my creative life, and I need to remember that being bad at the branding game does not mean that my writing is subpar.” Just started a 5-week series that’s a bit of a flyer for me but I figured, if it feels good to me maybe it’ll have a similar effect on others? I’m still thinking about Joshua’s Willa Cather read-along. Great stuff.
Thanks, Julie. "Slaps" is a new one to me, but it sounds like that's good! I remain of two minds about all of this. On the one hand creative freedom is vital. On the other, I firmly want to belong to a tradition and to win the admiration of other discerning artists. In that sense, I'm not convinced that Substack is enough, even if it beats total isolation.
An excellent, typically cogent account of your experience on Substack, Josh. Thank you. The line "I want my creative center to remain my own," which others have picked up on, succinctly epxresses what feels like the core of the matter to me.
Thanks, Jeffrey. As we've discussed privately, reading habits form a big part of that center, and I find myself wanting to divest more of my reading time from the digital form.
The attention flits online. Quite a different thing from Whitman's notion that "When I can touch the body of books, by night or by day, and when they touch my body back again;... / I intend to reach them my hand, and make as much of them as I do of men and women like you."
Or again: "What you are holding is in reality no book, nor part of a book; / It is a man, flush'd and full-blooded."
Enjoyed this Joshua. I liked your final answer, that you were a writer before substack and that you'll continue to be one even after.
Regarding this line "Branding is anathema to my creative life, and I need to remember that being bad at the branding game does not mean that my writing is subpar." I'm curious, have you made any branding mistakes so to speak? I'm not well versed in branding so I wanted to see if any particular experiences come to mind regarding that.
Absolutely love this series. And although I’m a visual artist (rather than writer) this point Joshua makes is crucial for all of us in world of wide web: “But you know how Facebook or Instagram can infiltrate your thoughts, so that you see every private moment as a potential status update or post? I don't want Substack to have that effect on my writing. I want my creative center to remain my own.”
Loved this. I love the whole series because it's such an inside baseball into other writers' thinking and approach to writing. It's amazing how everyone is grappling with a lot of the same questions no matter how different our logistical realities around our writing seems from the outside.
Joshua, I found your takes on both branding and the difficulty in "planning" pieces especially pertinent and relatable.
Thanks, Noha. I'm glad to know I'm not alone there.
I feel this: "But this is the kind of extrinsic reward that I'm supposed to be recovering from in my departure from academe! So the boom/bust cycle kind of messed me up for a while." Substack offers extrinsic measures aplenty, but the greater value here (I think, I hope) is that the robust and free tools allow us to experiment - if we can just turn off the habit of extrinsic measures.
In publishing as in academia, power, prestige, and profit seem to be on the side of numbers. The offset to that seems to be the community of like minds that we find here. We get to reinforce each other's conviction that we do not live on numbers. They have zero nutritive value. Thank you, Josh, for the reminder!
Zero nutritive value indeed! Thanks, Tara.
Unlike your garden … ☺️
All of it slaps but this is particularly good: “Branding is anathema to my creative life, and I need to remember that being bad at the branding game does not mean that my writing is subpar.” Just started a 5-week series that’s a bit of a flyer for me but I figured, if it feels good to me maybe it’ll have a similar effect on others? I’m still thinking about Joshua’s Willa Cather read-along. Great stuff.
Thanks, Julie. "Slaps" is a new one to me, but it sounds like that's good! I remain of two minds about all of this. On the one hand creative freedom is vital. On the other, I firmly want to belong to a tradition and to win the admiration of other discerning artists. In that sense, I'm not convinced that Substack is enough, even if it beats total isolation.
I'll look forward to your series.
It’s good, definitely! 😆 Series began yesterday. They are short. Enjoy!
An excellent, typically cogent account of your experience on Substack, Josh. Thank you. The line "I want my creative center to remain my own," which others have picked up on, succinctly epxresses what feels like the core of the matter to me.
Thanks, Jeffrey. As we've discussed privately, reading habits form a big part of that center, and I find myself wanting to divest more of my reading time from the digital form.
The attention flits online. Quite a different thing from Whitman's notion that "When I can touch the body of books, by night or by day, and when they touch my body back again;... / I intend to reach them my hand, and make as much of them as I do of men and women like you."
Or again: "What you are holding is in reality no book, nor part of a book; / It is a man, flush'd and full-blooded."
Wonderful quotes from Whitman! That physicality makes me think of the Catholic mass.
Enjoyed this Joshua. I liked your final answer, that you were a writer before substack and that you'll continue to be one even after.
Regarding this line "Branding is anathema to my creative life, and I need to remember that being bad at the branding game does not mean that my writing is subpar." I'm curious, have you made any branding mistakes so to speak? I'm not well versed in branding so I wanted to see if any particular experiences come to mind regarding that.
Branding is a separate conversation entirely. I'll have to answer with a post. https://joshuadolezal.substack.com/p/branding-will-be-the-end-of-us
Thanks Joshua will read today!
Really lovely post. Beautiful responses, Josh.
Glad to be walking this road with you, Sam. Thank you!
Thanks Eleanor and Joshua!