Alex Dobrenko, comedian and writer, on how to have fun in Notes
It’s all in the flick of the wrist
There is no one “right” way to publish on Notes. You can treat Notes like a fresh canvas for your art, a vessel for your mini stories, or a side room for conversations with strangers. Or you can be like
, writer-actor-comedian, and post absurd stuff like thisAnd this
Alex is one of the most entertaining people on Notes, and his strategy—it is, believe it or not, a strategy—is working. He consistently racks up high “like” counts, a strong response rate, and copious barrels of laughs. It’s also driving his Substack subscriber count, and revenue, ever higher.
I wanted to have a conversation with Alex about why he’s doing exactly what he’s doing on Notes, and how he thinks about it. It turns out there’s much for everyone to learn. Just as well that we captured that conversation in a video, featured above for your convenience and edification. Or you can just skim the (edited) notes below…
Enjoy!
Quotes from the conversation
On social media
I like to say I was forged in the hell that was Twitter.
It’s hard to make it in L.A., and the people I saw coming up were doing it through Twitter, and I thought, I could do that. I built a big community of friends and comedians on Twitter, so it stopped being about trying to make random people laugh and more about how to get my friends to laugh. But it was mentally difficult. I would spend so much time making a video, throwing it out there, and it was unclear if it would do well, if it would get seen at the right time by the right amount of people, to the point where I was having mental breakdowns. My wife said, “You need to stop. This is really bad for your mental health.” And I was like, “Yeah, OK, agreed, I just gotta make one more video first.” I was addicted.
On belonging
When Notes came along, I thought, “Wow, this could be a huge opportunity. I gotta do something on there,” and also I was really afraid, but ultimately I just couldn’t help it. It doesn’t feel as addictive. It might be because I started the relationship in a healthier way with Notes. I don’t really think about how well things are doing, where the language on Twitter was either “It’s a banger” or “I’m a piece of shit,” but on Notes I just throw stuff out there.
It feels safer, and that might be because I’ve met a lot of Substackers. I don’t feel like I’m the new guy at the party. It’s a smaller community. I came into Notes with “OK, I have a Substack that’s kind of doing well”, and I don’t feel so much like an imposter on Notes as I did on Twitter.
On vulnerability
I’m not fearless. I think I’m actually afraid all the time, I’ve just become comfortable with sharing that fear with the world.
Notes is a way for me to continue developing my voice, and it’s a stream for me to try all the little ideas I have in my brain. I just put them into Notes and let them go. That’s what I try to do with my Substack too. I write vulnerable, sort of absurd essays and try to minimize the time between having an idea and posting it because otherwise, the negative voice in my brain is gonna barge in and convince me the idea sucks.
It’s a muscle to train for me, where I think of an idea and I’m learning to say yes to it. Notes is sort of like a gym for that muscle. It’s a vulnerability gym. It makes me feel better after, and people connect to it.
On growing from Notes
My Twitter brain was like, “Everything has to be viral.” When I would come up with a thought, I’d think “OK, how do I change every little word to make this go viral?” There was so much calculation.
It isn’t like I’m going to try to go viral and get 1,000 new subscribers on Notes. That’s not real. It would never be real. Twitter is a perfect example, where I had 12,000 followers on there, and when I started my Substack, five people came.
On Substack, I get responses from people saying they found me on Notes. It’s clearly working to build my audience and subscribers, but in a more one-by-one kind of way. It’s more like a couple of people really dig a note, and now they’re interested in me more seriously.
The relationship you can build on Substack is deeper. The handshake to that relationship is Notes, so that’s also a little deeper.
On how to use Notes
Write whatever you would text a friend. The bar for what to post is super low. If it was interesting enough to text a friend, it’s good enough for Notes. Throw it out there—what’s the worst that could happen?
Resist this urge for mimicry. When I’m scrolling through a feed, I’m taking in the tone of it and, without knowing, feeding that tone back into the system. I try to actively remind myself I don’t have to do that on Notes. I think people can get overwhelmed on Notes and forget that they’re writers—they know how to be creative.
Amplify people’s writing. I highlight something, post, or restack with a comment because I love when I see a good line and engage with other people on it.
Jump into existing conversations. If you see two people talking, say something. I think the vibe is very “pizza party” friendly.
Tag people. Ask questions and tag people. You get a notification if you’re tagged in a note, so let’s say you’re just starting out but you have 10 friends on Substack. Tag all of them and ask something, or even just say hi to create a feeling of community.
Take some risks. Take the improv mindset. When you make a mistake onstage, enjoy it and laugh about it.
Three other writers who are using Notes well:
See you at the next workshop! Stay tuned to
on Notes for more.
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