Loved all of these insights, and I resonate with many of them, particularly #7 and #10. I thought my Substack was going to be all about writing and my publishing journey, but I love sharing the vulnerable parts of myself: the challenges I'm doing to better myself, reading lists, and random life moments. I want my Substack to be an extension of me—my full self, with all its layers and complexity—and not force myself to cater to a single, specific niche.
As for writing slowly, I find so much more joy in handwriting. I wrote the entire first draft of my memoir longhand and found it to be more cathartic and personal. I usually type my Substack drafts, but I've been wanting to add more personal columns and essays, and I know they'll get the longhand treatment. It's crucial to focus on your process, rather than what the current trend is telling you.
I love that you hand wrote your memoir Jessica - I always hand write my plotting and character backgrounds. It definitely makes me feel more connected to my creativity too. Being vulnerable online sounds like it’s really working for you and your Substack will be as complex and nuanced as you are.
So many beautiful points in this. I am grateful for your words, Simi. I love that you’re doing Substack your way. And that it nourishes you while you submit & pitch. ♥️
I love this!! As a new blogger, so many of your points really resonate with me. #12 especially stood out to me, because ever since I first started writing online just 2 months ago, I've discovered so much about myself. My goal was to help my audience find their voice, but it turns out that writing from my heart, has also helped me find mine.
On #11, I'd feed my drafts into AI, and I noticed that it would sometimes take out my voice if it was a more unorthodox or opinionated view, so I've started to rely less on it because I think what really connects readers to someone's writing is their authenticity and unique human voice.
Thanks for much for this thoughtful piece, its so helpful and validating for someone who's just in the beginning of their blogging journey :)
Thanks Krupa! I have found that the more I write online the more I develop my voice. It’s a different type of writing than fiction as in my novels my voice is woven into the characters. Writing online is both incredibly terrifying as there aren’t any other people (fictional or otherwise) to hide behind, but also liberating.
I do think that lots of people are either losing their voice or not taking the time to find their own voice by using AI and it is something that they can’t hide in their writing. I hope you learn to trust yourself more and lean into your unique humanness and develop your own style of writing, even though it is tough - no one else can write what you do!
Thank you, this is hitting the spot for me right now. I’m 8 months in on 1 newsletter, 4 in on the other. I write to deeply connect and document some of my processes. And yet keep getting trapped into the subscriber chase again and again, even after I remind myself of my purpose for each publication. And yes, the sparks and genuine interactions are what matters the most. I appreciate the letter from a few months in the future. It’s a good reminder to keep going. Thank you ❤️
I’m so pleased it resonated with you Aja - I find that most people who write about their Substack journey are actually just marketing some course or product to build a newsletter business, which is not what I’m about. It sounds like you are here for similar reasons to me and I’m so pleased we’ve connected!
Thanks so much for this! Just affirms my own experience and helps me give myself permission to be the writer I actually AM, rather than aim for an idealised version of myself that I can’t live up to…Go well 💕
Thank you, Simi, and I always enjoy your posts too, along with your notes sharing your tradpub journey! Hahaha I’m glad your TBR is growing and not sorry at all. ;)
Loved reading this as someone starting my journey. I'm trying not to get stuck at number one but your lessons really help. I started this Substack not telling anyone I know. In what is now another life I had thousands of X followers who would read other writing I did. Here I'm starting at 0 but I know its going to be a very worthwhile journey
It is definitely a much nicer place here than on X, though much harder to get followers or likes. If you can let go of the numbers, I feel it makes the whole process so much more rewarding.
Such great lessons, Simi. The "not owing consistency" particualarly jump out at me. When I started on Substack I had (what I now realize was) an admirable streak of weekly posting that I expected to keep up... but life gets busy and other projects take precedence, and I've had to learn to be okay with scaling back and realize that's not a reflection on me as a writer. It's reassuring to see that show up here too.
Thank you for reading Marci and it’s so good to hear that I’m not alone in scaling back to meet my own goals and fit in with my commitments. Saying that, I’m in awe of you publishing weekly at the start!
I'm in awe of myself too. 😅 For the first several months I didn't tell anyone about my Substack and I didn't engage on Notes... I wanted to prove to myself I could commit and regularly publish before going public about it. Now that I've become active on Notes, it's been wonderful interacting with other writers and finding a community... but it definitely means I don't have as much time to devote to publishing as frequently. I guess it's all about finding that balance!
All of them resonate! I think Social Media platforms are not built for writers because of the constant demand for content creation. That's not how the craft works, and most times, good reads need time to cook, to be thought, read and reread, to have a dialogue with the author and the universe. Thanks for your words!
That’s the perfect analogy - time to cook. I need to stew in my thoughts before I’m ready to share them with the universe! Unfortunately social media is the opposite of a slow cooked meal!
Loved all of these insights, and I resonate with many of them, particularly #7 and #10. I thought my Substack was going to be all about writing and my publishing journey, but I love sharing the vulnerable parts of myself: the challenges I'm doing to better myself, reading lists, and random life moments. I want my Substack to be an extension of me—my full self, with all its layers and complexity—and not force myself to cater to a single, specific niche.
As for writing slowly, I find so much more joy in handwriting. I wrote the entire first draft of my memoir longhand and found it to be more cathartic and personal. I usually type my Substack drafts, but I've been wanting to add more personal columns and essays, and I know they'll get the longhand treatment. It's crucial to focus on your process, rather than what the current trend is telling you.
I love that you hand wrote your memoir Jessica - I always hand write my plotting and character backgrounds. It definitely makes me feel more connected to my creativity too. Being vulnerable online sounds like it’s really working for you and your Substack will be as complex and nuanced as you are.
So many beautiful points in this. I am grateful for your words, Simi. I love that you’re doing Substack your way. And that it nourishes you while you submit & pitch. ♥️
Thank you so much Kate - the trepidation before every post is still there but I think that is just part of my process.
Love this!
Thanks for reading Emma!
I love this!! As a new blogger, so many of your points really resonate with me. #12 especially stood out to me, because ever since I first started writing online just 2 months ago, I've discovered so much about myself. My goal was to help my audience find their voice, but it turns out that writing from my heart, has also helped me find mine.
On #11, I'd feed my drafts into AI, and I noticed that it would sometimes take out my voice if it was a more unorthodox or opinionated view, so I've started to rely less on it because I think what really connects readers to someone's writing is their authenticity and unique human voice.
Thanks for much for this thoughtful piece, its so helpful and validating for someone who's just in the beginning of their blogging journey :)
Thanks Krupa! I have found that the more I write online the more I develop my voice. It’s a different type of writing than fiction as in my novels my voice is woven into the characters. Writing online is both incredibly terrifying as there aren’t any other people (fictional or otherwise) to hide behind, but also liberating.
I do think that lots of people are either losing their voice or not taking the time to find their own voice by using AI and it is something that they can’t hide in their writing. I hope you learn to trust yourself more and lean into your unique humanness and develop your own style of writing, even though it is tough - no one else can write what you do!
Thank you Simi for sharing!
Thanks for reading Noel - did anything hit home for you?
I created the Substack account in Jan or Feb 2025 but didn’t quite get into a rhythm of writing regularly here till summer!
It does take time to build that rhythm, doesn’t it!
so inspiring thanks so much
Thank you Elise! So pleased you found it inspiring.
🫶
Thank you, this is hitting the spot for me right now. I’m 8 months in on 1 newsletter, 4 in on the other. I write to deeply connect and document some of my processes. And yet keep getting trapped into the subscriber chase again and again, even after I remind myself of my purpose for each publication. And yes, the sparks and genuine interactions are what matters the most. I appreciate the letter from a few months in the future. It’s a good reminder to keep going. Thank you ❤️
I’m so pleased it resonated with you Aja - I find that most people who write about their Substack journey are actually just marketing some course or product to build a newsletter business, which is not what I’m about. It sounds like you are here for similar reasons to me and I’m so pleased we’ve connected!
LOVE this, Simi!! 🥰
Thank you Sidra - it’s been quite a journey!
It’s such a lovely reminder that the internet should serve us, and not the other way around!
Thanks so much for this! Just affirms my own experience and helps me give myself permission to be the writer I actually AM, rather than aim for an idealised version of myself that I can’t live up to…Go well 💕
I’m so pleased that it resonances with you Bernadette - definitely focus on being yourself and don’t listen to all the noise telling you otherwise!
Thank you for sharing your reflections, Simi! I started publishing on Substack about a year ago too, so it seems we started together!
And I’m so glad we connected - always look forward to your book reviews even if my TBR is growing exponentially!
Thank you, Simi, and I always enjoy your posts too, along with your notes sharing your tradpub journey! Hahaha I’m glad your TBR is growing and not sorry at all. ;)
😂
Loved reading this as someone starting my journey. I'm trying not to get stuck at number one but your lessons really help. I started this Substack not telling anyone I know. In what is now another life I had thousands of X followers who would read other writing I did. Here I'm starting at 0 but I know its going to be a very worthwhile journey
It is definitely a much nicer place here than on X, though much harder to get followers or likes. If you can let go of the numbers, I feel it makes the whole process so much more rewarding.
Love this reflection. Especially numbers 8 & 9. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Nicole - I feel it’s taken me until midlife to understand the importance of rest and vulnerability!
Loved this piece. And it resonated alot. Good luck with your novel and keep feeding us your beautiful writing on Substack.
Thank you Amal - hoping to get the first draft completed by the end of the year!
Such great lessons, Simi. The "not owing consistency" particualarly jump out at me. When I started on Substack I had (what I now realize was) an admirable streak of weekly posting that I expected to keep up... but life gets busy and other projects take precedence, and I've had to learn to be okay with scaling back and realize that's not a reflection on me as a writer. It's reassuring to see that show up here too.
Thank you for reading Marci and it’s so good to hear that I’m not alone in scaling back to meet my own goals and fit in with my commitments. Saying that, I’m in awe of you publishing weekly at the start!
I'm in awe of myself too. 😅 For the first several months I didn't tell anyone about my Substack and I didn't engage on Notes... I wanted to prove to myself I could commit and regularly publish before going public about it. Now that I've become active on Notes, it's been wonderful interacting with other writers and finding a community... but it definitely means I don't have as much time to devote to publishing as frequently. I guess it's all about finding that balance!
Yes, it’s all about balance!
All of them resonate! I think Social Media platforms are not built for writers because of the constant demand for content creation. That's not how the craft works, and most times, good reads need time to cook, to be thought, read and reread, to have a dialogue with the author and the universe. Thanks for your words!
That’s the perfect analogy - time to cook. I need to stew in my thoughts before I’m ready to share them with the universe! Unfortunately social media is the opposite of a slow cooked meal!
Exactly 🩷