Setting goals has been the biggest motivator and the best way to keep my schedule consistent and on track. I'm a fiction writer releasing a serialized novel, so some of this advice applies a little differently for writers doing similar work. But I have an overall goal of finishing the book within a year and smaller goals of chunking word count every 2-3 months and that makes everything far more manageable. Plus I reward myself with a mini writing retreat every time I hit my quarterly goal.
Yeah, joining Substack has been the best motivator for me, because I've set myself weekly goals of writing and posting. It's been the best move for me.
Mini writing retreat... I wonder if I can swing one of those with my boss (who knows nothing of my writing) 🤔
Hello! 🙋🏻♀️ Substack makes it so easy to meet my goals because I have an audience and I've made a very public promise to deliver a chapter to them every Thursday. And the beautiful thing: the more I stick to that schedule/goal, the more readers I am gaining!
As for the writing retreat, I'll be taking a day or two off of work. But they're not nosy about PTO (in fact, are the opposite and would encourage curiosity/creative pursuits) so I do count myself lucky in that department!
Agreed, use the SMART method for writing goals by setting specific and measurable targets with a realistic timeline. Track word counts and milestones to measure progress and stay motivated to achieve writing goals, aligning with established best practices for writers.
This is very good, but the biggest feature request I've pinged Substack with is exactly that: a workable editorial calendar.
Right now, between blog sections and podcasts, I have a mere list of manually created dates for scheduled publishing, etc. I then have to use my Google Calendar to manually create an editorial calendar on it so I can more easily visualize and make sure I'm regularly publishing content for the various sections and so forth. Ideally, you'd have a basic visual calendar, month view, perhaps, and we could drag and drop content and it would actually update the draft/publish date accordingly.
I've been blogging for over 20 years so I'm used to hacked and wonky methods to stay on track, but Substack is really pushing to be a comprehensive tool (and it is!!!); it absolutely needs even the most basic editorial calendar interface that updates the planning (draft) and publishing (scheduled) posts with visual drag-and-drop ease to make that final step.
-I thought and made notes and read lots of other Substackers for about a year before creating my own.
-I write because I breathe (born that way).
-I went paid from the jump.
-I publish 4 x week consistently; started August 2 of this year, so ~ 6 weeks in. Each publishing day is a distinct format, aka: Sunday essay, Monday quote, Wednesday Peeves Unleashed, Friday humor. I thought carefully through what I would be able to do, realistically, committed to the schedule. Three are pretty lightweight styles, and I use a template for now. The essay is the bigger lift.
-I put myself in my subscribers' inbox: what would I like to receive, how often, and on what day?
-I wrote a very clear intro about the why, my structure, paid versus unpaid, and subject matter.
-I am very much aiming for a "tangible virtual" community (see how my brain works? LMAO)
-I have 12 free and 0 paid to date, and I don't worry about it: All will grow organically through networking on SS, commenting and reading others' work, while discovering great stuff and people!
-I turned off any notices on un-subscribing.
-I write ahead, have drafts started with ideas that pop up, and sandbag an essay for a time when I run out of time.
-I try to write what inspires me for any given post, and will try to be aware of seasonal shifts, as well as ideas and world news.
-I remind myself not to take myself and everything so damn seriously, and fortunately have a once a week post that requires me to laugh.
-I think I will get one of those nose and glasses to keep on hand, and try to channel Groucho. His moustache is so much better than mine, though. But I refuse the cigar thing.
Cheers and lots of energy, everyone!
-Kate
Oh! I forgot income! Yes, definitely income! Duh. From my About page:
"I can’t do it without you, because, let’s be honest, I need the income. I finally burned out in a flaming hot crispy pile of not-kissing-corporate-ass-any-longer-just-NO, leaving a regular job to restore what sanity I might aspire to regain. I’ve been and remain an entrepreneur at heart. Also, without you, I’m just talking to myself. It’s not a good look, walking around without any obvious signs I’m talking to another human, and the Bluetooth possibility only goes so far."
And a big thank you so much to the lovelies who <3 my contribution on this post. Back at ya!
Substack wants to be a movement. We have to make our own newsletters movements too! This requires incredible dedication, endless hours brainstorming, a good list of drafts and considerable discipline.
If you take this seriously as your full-time job, the simplest answer is revenue is your goal. That means not just quality writing the best you are capable of, but actual growth of your email list on a consistent basis and a business plan that makes it happen. This leads ultimately to a flywheel of digital products. You can one day live on.
Nobody can set your own goals for you. You need to set goals that are realistic and attainable and sets your consistency and niche in a good direction. This requires market research, collaboration and not just working for yourself. Overt time you find your goal is not just to be a writer but to be a creator.
It's not goals that you need, but a system and a bunch of tools to help you be more productive. It's more than just a writing habit when growth is your goal. You need to think of your newsletter as a startup and you are the first employee.
I think dreaming big here is extremely important. I wonder if that makes sense to anyone reading this.
I've written for years, but have failed to get into a groove here on Substack. I'm blaming the fact that The Good Husband retired and is always in town and in my house! (Yes, it's technically his house, too, but c'mon!) I'm also a grandmother now, which has changed my routines; but I'm feeling a void and I know I'm responsible. The people I love are not stifling my writing. That block was built by my failure to prioritize and set boundaries, unsurprisingly I think those two things create a lot of issues for many of us. So I'm taking back control and this three-part series is a good refresh and reboot for me to get back to what I know works.
My goals are simple:
1. Two-three regularly scheduled posts per week
- One original poem with background commentary
- One original painting or photo, accompanied by an essay or explanatory text
- In January, a weekly prompt with reader-submitted work and comments to build community
2. Build portfolio to prep for chapbook and manuscript submissions
I am 75 autistic and have learned how to write. I can't pretend to fit in but writing is about me not you.
I believe in evolution not devolution. Has anyone read Darwin? Survival of the fittest is not survival of the strongest. It is the survival of the luckiest. Fittest to fit in the best. The best at fitting in.
Natural selection is about beating the odds.
I write only for myself and welcome both distain and gratitude. I understand me and I like writing but I speak Moe and Moe is a genius at abstract mathematics and linguistics and not much else.
I have been watching a lot of Robbie Burns' On seeing a louse on a Lady's Bonnet in Church on youtube performed by a great Scottish Actor.
" O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!" Robbie Burns
If I am not me who am I? Should I lie to myself about who I am?
I don't know my price what is 30 pieces of silver in American dollars?
Oooh, I like your perspective! It's about being real. One of my favorite quotes is from the genius Oscar Wilde: "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." In a world full of people trying to be liked or loved or trying to change for others, the whole point is that all we really need is the courage to stop caring whether or who likes us. I know, it's really hard for anyone who has ever had to go through adolescence, with all those damn hormones messing with your brain. But beyond that, strive to be the grown up version of the kid you were.
Those who dig us for ourselves are the cool ones anyway, and the weirdos who like us the way we are? Those are the ones we want to hang around. And they're a lot more fun. You are you, and anything else is rubbish. I think there is a saying that goes, "If you add to the truth, you subtract from it," and that applies to people, too.
Perhaps what you write points to why I fail at everything, suffer from chronic depression, have no people left in my life and live alone with my Groenendael, and living now only for him, after which I expect a quick demise.
You see, it has always been my feeling that to be a worthwhile human being I ought to put others in front of myself. I have done that in many ways since being a small child, living in a slum but recognising somehow that for all that the families around me had as good as nothing, they would look out for, feed, clothe, give shelter to or console anyone in the surrounding community who needed it. All would have welcomed additional income but none were materialist nor coveted what others, more well off, might have.
As an adult and particularly in the last couple of decades, my sense has been that trust and caring such as I had experienced, has substantially dissipated or reduced. Perhaps that's not true, perhaps it was and is a feature of those without but rare in those 'with' and so, as I now have little but nevertheless much more than I did, perhaps I don't meet the sharing and caring that I remember. For instance I have more than once been treated suspiciously or even rejected or abused, because I offered to give something or do something without charge.
Today, to me, it seems that if there isn't a price ticket on something then many consider it with suspicion.
How sad that we are advised by 'life coaches' and other counsellors or 'wise' ones that we must put ourselves first or we will not be able to benefit others.
I certainly don't mean any enmity or to malign you for how you feel but I just cannot agree.
I have no advice for you, at least not advice that tells you what to do with your life. Your reply to my quote touched me in a way I didn't expect. Recently, I told my wife that I've had enough suffering, and I could check out now, and then my mobility from the last stroke shifted for the better.
I think that's why your comment affected me the way it did.
As I say I am autistic. I love the Ballad of Reading Gaol, I read Flowers for Algernon over sixty years ago and just recently watched Cliff Robertson in Charly. My wife is a Doctor of Philosophy in Education and taught me to write. Imagine being 75 and writing is your greatest passion and everyday is a new beginning. Algernon Moncrieff The Importance of Being Ernest Oscar Wilde.
I don't believe in magic but I am in need of Moses Maimonides I am most perplexed.
I finally was able to order two new keyboards for autistic 5 year olds. They weren't designed for seventy five year old writers who just love writing for their own enjoyment.
Our local daily is independent media support by subscription and taxes we hold an independent media sacred to our liberal democracy where race, gender and religion are deemed human fantasies and I have my own bureau of autistic affairs.
Orwell wrote why I write. Nineteen eighty four is biblical allegory. May we live to see 1985. Orwell on Nationalism
"Perception is real in its consequences." Voltaire
I am retarded but they called me a genius at abstract mathematics and linguini istics for 67 years. I am Alice talking to Humpty Dumpty on His side of the Looking Glass. I haven't a snowball's chance in the land of lawyers. I use Dr Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English language to understand the constitution which as Jefferson said is an abomination. Religion is not a virtue and constitutions need to evolve. Jefferson said every generation needs a new constitution a nation of laws is a nation of Humpty Dumptys.
It seems like we are all in Douglas Adams Improbability generator. If you live between my ears improbability and probability is always a 50/50.proosition always favouring the minority position.
I feel that I relate to both the original post and your comment. However, I also feel a little stupid for I don't understand the ending quote - how does adding something take away from it? Yes, I know, I'm a dumbo but will you help me out, please?
Well, if you add to the truth, the part you add isn't truth, and so therefore having a lie attached sort of pollutes the original thing, which was clean and true. For example, say that some kids tell their parents that yes, they knocked over the plant and broke the pot, spilling the soil all over the new carpet, it is true. But if they then say that it was because a stranger broke into the house and chased them around, then the story as a whole is no longer true. I hope that helps!
I am 75 stoned out of my gourd living inside a music box; talk about victimhood and slavery
I order weed from a government catalogue and Canada Poste delivers. We have a government supplied social worker whose job it is to keep us happy and she is a good listener and of course my wife at 85 has a PhD in education and still loves teaching philosophy here in the Appalachians next to the Appalachian Trail just North of Vermont which has no Appalachian Trail National Park because of fear of people like Bernie Sanders, Paul Newman, Ben and Jerry.
France was the enemy from the Revolution till 1967.
My father had a Yiddish accent . He never came to Vermont with my mother's family who were born in Montreal and spoke like real Americans. We called Vermont Mississippi North. Vermont was poor and illiterate and those damn Jews brought in liberalism.
The desire to live in French goes back to when Robbie Burns demanded to speak Scottish.
Remember the Red River Valley is the song our door makes when you press the bell.
There is no such thing as Russian Jewish We haven't been Russian since Alexander the Great. Read Mark Twain's The American Claimant. It is a YIddish Translation. Twain may have understood Russian but he thought in Yiddish and hated the Czar and The Gilded Age. Twain loved Petr Ilych Tchaikovsky regardless of Petr's sexuality. Russian /Jewish is an oxymoron like being a conservative Christian. Its either heads or tails it never lands on the edge. Render onto Caesar what is Caesar's render unto God what is God's.
I live in Quebec we decided Caesar ain't worth a crap and banished religion from our daily lives. We are a HUMANIST society and a liberal democracy.
Would you like a discussion with a 75 year older but no wiser autistic Jew going on 7 on Dene Drum Dances?
Zelensky is 100% Ukrainian and lays a mean piano and is zero % Russian. Zelensky speaks Russian and I speak my own special language but I understand Zelenskiy and Putin speaks only Russian.
I don't do forums very well. I am autistic and I do dialogues mostly with myself but I enjoy a good dialogue. I like debates but like Swift a debate is only a debate when you can debate both sides with equal passion.
1) Create compelling, thought-provoking, and energizing content a large audience finds valuable enough to spend their time reading and spend their money subscribing.
2) Hone my authentic voice and crystallize who my reader base truly is.
3) Make my readers feel.
4) Go paid.
5) Continue to steadily and effectively grow my audience of subscribers, free and paid. My sights are to build a community of tens of thousands of free subscribers with a minimum of 10% paid.
6) Make a difference and set a good example for my children.
Heya! If you’re in the mood to ponder the notion of goals, and why our goals often frustrate us, I wrote a post about it last June. This seems like a great place to share it.
I know this is a place to come and get information, but I'll throw this out there: I've written and published a piece for 150 consecutive days, and my stuff isn't lousy. Ask me things!
Wow, solid writing that does't suck on a whole host of topics and you do it every day! My dream. Very impressive. Though I have my areas of specialty, I get bored if I focus too much on one area, so, you sir, inspire me to continue on my path of writing on a variety of topics while striving to retain a distinctive voice ( thus deliberately ignoring the "niche" notion we so often hear). My main problem seems to be finding the time; I tend to do a lot of research. But so do you. Would you mind checking my Substack and offering feedback? Is yours full time?
Not exactly full time, but I run my own businesses and have a lot of flexibility in my schedule. I'll be happy to take a peek, but let me say this first: the big thing is to stay curious and share that with your readers. I'm sure that if you do that, if you have a similar mindset as me, you're going to be inspired to serve them well once that happens.
Okay! Quick observation and suggestion: spend some time on your "about" page. It might not seem all that important right now, but it will be in the future, and even better: it gives you an idea of a "true north" you can stick to. Mine is VERY MUCH a work in progress and I'm definitely not completely satisfied with how it looks and reads now, but it's a lot better than it was a month ago:
I love your About page! Tells the reader a lot about you. I do wonder how many readers end up there - but if you're essentially selling yourself, I can see how it's no small matter. "Punditman says" is how I start every post (way back during the Iraq War, I had a blog with the same moniker). The point is, I like to think readers actually care to hear my take on...whatever. Sometimes assertive, sometimes nuanced, sometimes whimsical - always thought provoking.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on how your writing has evolved. For me some pieces are more fun to write than others and I keep thinking I should take it more in that direction. It may be easier in terms of getting into the "flow"? For instance, this one was quite enjoyable: https://punditman.substack.com/p/time-kept-on-slippin-slippin-slippin
I just subscribed, so maybe I can call attention to things as I see them coming in. I spent a lot of time thinking about my writing style, and even though this is about 2 months old now, I think it's pretty accurate:
I have 3 substacks--my author newsletter, my craft newsletter for writers, & my Travel/paris newsletter. My challenge is keeping up with a consistent schedule on all of them. The most consistent is my craft newsletter THE caffeinated Writer, where I post the weekly “what to write this week” series.
Setting goals has been the biggest motivator and the best way to keep my schedule consistent and on track. I'm a fiction writer releasing a serialized novel, so some of this advice applies a little differently for writers doing similar work. But I have an overall goal of finishing the book within a year and smaller goals of chunking word count every 2-3 months and that makes everything far more manageable. Plus I reward myself with a mini writing retreat every time I hit my quarterly goal.
Hello fellow fiction writer 👋
Yeah, joining Substack has been the best motivator for me, because I've set myself weekly goals of writing and posting. It's been the best move for me.
Mini writing retreat... I wonder if I can swing one of those with my boss (who knows nothing of my writing) 🤔
Hello! 🙋🏻♀️ Substack makes it so easy to meet my goals because I have an audience and I've made a very public promise to deliver a chapter to them every Thursday. And the beautiful thing: the more I stick to that schedule/goal, the more readers I am gaining!
As for the writing retreat, I'll be taking a day or two off of work. But they're not nosy about PTO (in fact, are the opposite and would encourage curiosity/creative pursuits) so I do count myself lucky in that department!
Agreed, use the SMART method for writing goals by setting specific and measurable targets with a realistic timeline. Track word counts and milestones to measure progress and stay motivated to achieve writing goals, aligning with established best practices for writers.
This is very good, but the biggest feature request I've pinged Substack with is exactly that: a workable editorial calendar.
Right now, between blog sections and podcasts, I have a mere list of manually created dates for scheduled publishing, etc. I then have to use my Google Calendar to manually create an editorial calendar on it so I can more easily visualize and make sure I'm regularly publishing content for the various sections and so forth. Ideally, you'd have a basic visual calendar, month view, perhaps, and we could drag and drop content and it would actually update the draft/publish date accordingly.
I've been blogging for over 20 years so I'm used to hacked and wonky methods to stay on track, but Substack is really pushing to be a comprehensive tool (and it is!!!); it absolutely needs even the most basic editorial calendar interface that updates the planning (draft) and publishing (scheduled) posts with visual drag-and-drop ease to make that final step.
it would be great to have a drag-and-drop calendar that you can place drafts on to! love this idea.
This would be a game changer!
YES!!
This topic is so important!
FWIW...
-I thought and made notes and read lots of other Substackers for about a year before creating my own.
-I write because I breathe (born that way).
-I went paid from the jump.
-I publish 4 x week consistently; started August 2 of this year, so ~ 6 weeks in. Each publishing day is a distinct format, aka: Sunday essay, Monday quote, Wednesday Peeves Unleashed, Friday humor. I thought carefully through what I would be able to do, realistically, committed to the schedule. Three are pretty lightweight styles, and I use a template for now. The essay is the bigger lift.
-I put myself in my subscribers' inbox: what would I like to receive, how often, and on what day?
-I wrote a very clear intro about the why, my structure, paid versus unpaid, and subject matter.
-I am very much aiming for a "tangible virtual" community (see how my brain works? LMAO)
-I have 12 free and 0 paid to date, and I don't worry about it: All will grow organically through networking on SS, commenting and reading others' work, while discovering great stuff and people!
-I turned off any notices on un-subscribing.
-I write ahead, have drafts started with ideas that pop up, and sandbag an essay for a time when I run out of time.
-I try to write what inspires me for any given post, and will try to be aware of seasonal shifts, as well as ideas and world news.
-I remind myself not to take myself and everything so damn seriously, and fortunately have a once a week post that requires me to laugh.
-I think I will get one of those nose and glasses to keep on hand, and try to channel Groucho. His moustache is so much better than mine, though. But I refuse the cigar thing.
Cheers and lots of energy, everyone!
-Kate
Oh! I forgot income! Yes, definitely income! Duh. From my About page:
"I can’t do it without you, because, let’s be honest, I need the income. I finally burned out in a flaming hot crispy pile of not-kissing-corporate-ass-any-longer-just-NO, leaving a regular job to restore what sanity I might aspire to regain. I’ve been and remain an entrepreneur at heart. Also, without you, I’m just talking to myself. It’s not a good look, walking around without any obvious signs I’m talking to another human, and the Bluetooth possibility only goes so far."
And a big thank you so much to the lovelies who <3 my contribution on this post. Back at ya!
Love how the Substack team provides such amazing resources for new writers.
We appreciate the effort 🙏🏻
Couldn’t agree more! Thank you Substack!
What’s a goal?
I never was any good at soccer.
Substack wants to be a movement. We have to make our own newsletters movements too! This requires incredible dedication, endless hours brainstorming, a good list of drafts and considerable discipline.
If you take this seriously as your full-time job, the simplest answer is revenue is your goal. That means not just quality writing the best you are capable of, but actual growth of your email list on a consistent basis and a business plan that makes it happen. This leads ultimately to a flywheel of digital products. You can one day live on.
Nobody can set your own goals for you. You need to set goals that are realistic and attainable and sets your consistency and niche in a good direction. This requires market research, collaboration and not just working for yourself. Overt time you find your goal is not just to be a writer but to be a creator.
It's not goals that you need, but a system and a bunch of tools to help you be more productive. It's more than just a writing habit when growth is your goal. You need to think of your newsletter as a startup and you are the first employee.
I think dreaming big here is extremely important. I wonder if that makes sense to anyone reading this.
I've written for years, but have failed to get into a groove here on Substack. I'm blaming the fact that The Good Husband retired and is always in town and in my house! (Yes, it's technically his house, too, but c'mon!) I'm also a grandmother now, which has changed my routines; but I'm feeling a void and I know I'm responsible. The people I love are not stifling my writing. That block was built by my failure to prioritize and set boundaries, unsurprisingly I think those two things create a lot of issues for many of us. So I'm taking back control and this three-part series is a good refresh and reboot for me to get back to what I know works.
My goals are simple:
1. Two-three regularly scheduled posts per week
- One original poem with background commentary
- One original painting or photo, accompanied by an essay or explanatory text
- In January, a weekly prompt with reader-submitted work and comments to build community
2. Build portfolio to prep for chapbook and manuscript submissions
3. Create audience and following
- 2,000 free subscribers
- 100 paid subscribers
Here we go, fellow writers!
All Best, KIM
I am 75 autistic and have learned how to write. I can't pretend to fit in but writing is about me not you.
I believe in evolution not devolution. Has anyone read Darwin? Survival of the fittest is not survival of the strongest. It is the survival of the luckiest. Fittest to fit in the best. The best at fitting in.
Natural selection is about beating the odds.
I write only for myself and welcome both distain and gratitude. I understand me and I like writing but I speak Moe and Moe is a genius at abstract mathematics and linguistics and not much else.
I have been watching a lot of Robbie Burns' On seeing a louse on a Lady's Bonnet in Church on youtube performed by a great Scottish Actor.
" O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!" Robbie Burns
If I am not me who am I? Should I lie to myself about who I am?
I don't know my price what is 30 pieces of silver in American dollars?
Oooh, I like your perspective! It's about being real. One of my favorite quotes is from the genius Oscar Wilde: "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." In a world full of people trying to be liked or loved or trying to change for others, the whole point is that all we really need is the courage to stop caring whether or who likes us. I know, it's really hard for anyone who has ever had to go through adolescence, with all those damn hormones messing with your brain. But beyond that, strive to be the grown up version of the kid you were.
Those who dig us for ourselves are the cool ones anyway, and the weirdos who like us the way we are? Those are the ones we want to hang around. And they're a lot more fun. You are you, and anything else is rubbish. I think there is a saying that goes, "If you add to the truth, you subtract from it," and that applies to people, too.
Lao Tzu
"Care about what other people think, and you will always be their prisoner."
It appears that our primary purpose is to love our self first, and we will love everything that we do. As I talk to myself.
Perhaps what you write points to why I fail at everything, suffer from chronic depression, have no people left in my life and live alone with my Groenendael, and living now only for him, after which I expect a quick demise.
You see, it has always been my feeling that to be a worthwhile human being I ought to put others in front of myself. I have done that in many ways since being a small child, living in a slum but recognising somehow that for all that the families around me had as good as nothing, they would look out for, feed, clothe, give shelter to or console anyone in the surrounding community who needed it. All would have welcomed additional income but none were materialist nor coveted what others, more well off, might have.
As an adult and particularly in the last couple of decades, my sense has been that trust and caring such as I had experienced, has substantially dissipated or reduced. Perhaps that's not true, perhaps it was and is a feature of those without but rare in those 'with' and so, as I now have little but nevertheless much more than I did, perhaps I don't meet the sharing and caring that I remember. For instance I have more than once been treated suspiciously or even rejected or abused, because I offered to give something or do something without charge.
Today, to me, it seems that if there isn't a price ticket on something then many consider it with suspicion.
How sad that we are advised by 'life coaches' and other counsellors or 'wise' ones that we must put ourselves first or we will not be able to benefit others.
I certainly don't mean any enmity or to malign you for how you feel but I just cannot agree.
I have no advice for you, at least not advice that tells you what to do with your life. Your reply to my quote touched me in a way I didn't expect. Recently, I told my wife that I've had enough suffering, and I could check out now, and then my mobility from the last stroke shifted for the better.
I think that's why your comment affected me the way it did.
Thank you Kate for the inspiration.
As I say I am autistic. I love the Ballad of Reading Gaol, I read Flowers for Algernon over sixty years ago and just recently watched Cliff Robertson in Charly. My wife is a Doctor of Philosophy in Education and taught me to write. Imagine being 75 and writing is your greatest passion and everyday is a new beginning. Algernon Moncrieff The Importance of Being Ernest Oscar Wilde.
I don't believe in magic but I am in need of Moses Maimonides I am most perplexed.
I finally was able to order two new keyboards for autistic 5 year olds. They weren't designed for seventy five year old writers who just love writing for their own enjoyment.
Charly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKcWihdna3I&t=27s
In autistic circles these days we talk a lot about our masks.
This is about adult autisme in my local daily.
Google translate might help but maybe you studied French at University.
I failed French in grade two and every grade in high school.
https://www.latribune.ca/enquete/2023/09/04/adulte-et-autiste-le-diagnostic-qui-a-tout-explique-Z6OMVIZF7VBEHG65NIU2GPZC7E/
Our local daily is independent media support by subscription and taxes we hold an independent media sacred to our liberal democracy where race, gender and religion are deemed human fantasies and I have my own bureau of autistic affairs.
Orwell wrote why I write. Nineteen eighty four is biblical allegory. May we live to see 1985. Orwell on Nationalism
https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/notes-on-nationalism/
"Perception is real in its consequences." Voltaire
I am retarded but they called me a genius at abstract mathematics and linguini istics for 67 years. I am Alice talking to Humpty Dumpty on His side of the Looking Glass. I haven't a snowball's chance in the land of lawyers. I use Dr Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English language to understand the constitution which as Jefferson said is an abomination. Religion is not a virtue and constitutions need to evolve. Jefferson said every generation needs a new constitution a nation of laws is a nation of Humpty Dumptys.
If Canada elects a Conservative government Canada will cease to exist and English Canada will join the American Wasteland.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47311/the-waste-land
Winter kept us warm 1965 Quebec it is like Casablanca Bogie Lost to Reagan and nobody tells the story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vodBSKDxin4
It seems like we are all in Douglas Adams Improbability generator. If you live between my ears improbability and probability is always a 50/50.proosition always favouring the minority position.
I feel that I relate to both the original post and your comment. However, I also feel a little stupid for I don't understand the ending quote - how does adding something take away from it? Yes, I know, I'm a dumbo but will you help me out, please?
Well, if you add to the truth, the part you add isn't truth, and so therefore having a lie attached sort of pollutes the original thing, which was clean and true. For example, say that some kids tell their parents that yes, they knocked over the plant and broke the pot, spilling the soil all over the new carpet, it is true. But if they then say that it was because a stranger broke into the house and chased them around, then the story as a whole is no longer true. I hope that helps!
Thanks for your explanaton but why should the part added not be truth? Are you saying that a truth is absolute and can never be modified? :-)
love that line from Rabbie Burn's To a Louse!
A million thank yous,
Maybe Regina can translate Parcel of Rogues into Russian or Ukrainian, or Yiddish. It is kind of anti-American as Orwell might say..
It was a long time ago and when my wife and I started dating this is a song we listened to on vinyl.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBS4XP9Xmk8
My partner is still a keeper.
I am 75 stoned out of my gourd living inside a music box; talk about victimhood and slavery
I order weed from a government catalogue and Canada Poste delivers. We have a government supplied social worker whose job it is to keep us happy and she is a good listener and of course my wife at 85 has a PhD in education and still loves teaching philosophy here in the Appalachians next to the Appalachian Trail just North of Vermont which has no Appalachian Trail National Park because of fear of people like Bernie Sanders, Paul Newman, Ben and Jerry.
Have you ever listened to La Bolduc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dI-DdTZJyo&list=RDEMD3ionNCB1HYPTHw1yeN-jQ&start_radio=1
France was the enemy from the Revolution till 1967.
My father had a Yiddish accent . He never came to Vermont with my mother's family who were born in Montreal and spoke like real Americans. We called Vermont Mississippi North. Vermont was poor and illiterate and those damn Jews brought in liberalism.
The desire to live in French goes back to when Robbie Burns demanded to speak Scottish.
Remember the Red River Valley is the song our door makes when you press the bell.
Les Belles Meres
The Mother in Laws
How Scot's Irish is that complete with yodel.
This is who I am. I am not the Messiah I have no idea where I am going when I start a journey.
I am damn well going to enjoy the trip because I have no idea where I will end up.
There is no such thing as Russian Jewish We haven't been Russian since Alexander the Great. Read Mark Twain's The American Claimant. It is a YIddish Translation. Twain may have understood Russian but he thought in Yiddish and hated the Czar and The Gilded Age. Twain loved Petr Ilych Tchaikovsky regardless of Petr's sexuality. Russian /Jewish is an oxymoron like being a conservative Christian. Its either heads or tails it never lands on the edge. Render onto Caesar what is Caesar's render unto God what is God's.
I live in Quebec we decided Caesar ain't worth a crap and banished religion from our daily lives. We are a HUMANIST society and a liberal democracy.
Would you like a discussion with a 75 year older but no wiser autistic Jew going on 7 on Dene Drum Dances?
Zelensky is 100% Ukrainian and lays a mean piano and is zero % Russian. Zelensky speaks Russian and I speak my own special language but I understand Zelenskiy and Putin speaks only Russian.
I don't do forums very well. I am autistic and I do dialogues mostly with myself but I enjoy a good dialogue. I like debates but like Swift a debate is only a debate when you can debate both sides with equal passion.
Habits are the building blocks upon which all the rest sits.
1) Create compelling, thought-provoking, and energizing content a large audience finds valuable enough to spend their time reading and spend their money subscribing.
2) Hone my authentic voice and crystallize who my reader base truly is.
3) Make my readers feel.
4) Go paid.
5) Continue to steadily and effectively grow my audience of subscribers, free and paid. My sights are to build a community of tens of thousands of free subscribers with a minimum of 10% paid.
6) Make a difference and set a good example for my children.
The tip is to make one word. Repeat until 10 minutes have finished. That’s the key to ignite the consistency needed.
This week begins my "get a post up once a week" schedule. I am building consistency again, which is critical to success on the platform.
Heya! If you’re in the mood to ponder the notion of goals, and why our goals often frustrate us, I wrote a post about it last June. This seems like a great place to share it.
https://www.practicespace.blog/p/no-13-on-keeping-score
I know this is a place to come and get information, but I'll throw this out there: I've written and published a piece for 150 consecutive days, and my stuff isn't lousy. Ask me things!
Wow, solid writing that does't suck on a whole host of topics and you do it every day! My dream. Very impressive. Though I have my areas of specialty, I get bored if I focus too much on one area, so, you sir, inspire me to continue on my path of writing on a variety of topics while striving to retain a distinctive voice ( thus deliberately ignoring the "niche" notion we so often hear). My main problem seems to be finding the time; I tend to do a lot of research. But so do you. Would you mind checking my Substack and offering feedback? Is yours full time?
Not exactly full time, but I run my own businesses and have a lot of flexibility in my schedule. I'll be happy to take a peek, but let me say this first: the big thing is to stay curious and share that with your readers. I'm sure that if you do that, if you have a similar mindset as me, you're going to be inspired to serve them well once that happens.
Okay! Quick observation and suggestion: spend some time on your "about" page. It might not seem all that important right now, but it will be in the future, and even better: it gives you an idea of a "true north" you can stick to. Mine is VERY MUCH a work in progress and I'm definitely not completely satisfied with how it looks and reads now, but it's a lot better than it was a month ago:
https://goatfury.substack.com/about
I love your About page! Tells the reader a lot about you. I do wonder how many readers end up there - but if you're essentially selling yourself, I can see how it's no small matter. "Punditman says" is how I start every post (way back during the Iraq War, I had a blog with the same moniker). The point is, I like to think readers actually care to hear my take on...whatever. Sometimes assertive, sometimes nuanced, sometimes whimsical - always thought provoking.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on how your writing has evolved. For me some pieces are more fun to write than others and I keep thinking I should take it more in that direction. It may be easier in terms of getting into the "flow"? For instance, this one was quite enjoyable: https://punditman.substack.com/p/time-kept-on-slippin-slippin-slippin
I just subscribed, so maybe I can call attention to things as I see them coming in. I spent a lot of time thinking about my writing style, and even though this is about 2 months old now, I think it's pretty accurate:
https://goatfury.substack.com/p/100-days-of-writing-in-a-row
I think you're on the right track so far, for what it's worth!
That’s fantastic!
I have 3 substacks--my author newsletter, my craft newsletter for writers, & my Travel/paris newsletter. My challenge is keeping up with a consistent schedule on all of them. The most consistent is my craft newsletter THE caffeinated Writer, where I post the weekly “what to write this week” series.
3 substacks!!! how do you manage it?
And that doesn't include the fourth one, Fiction Attic Press, where I publish writing by others! fictionattic.substack.com
Not well! 😂
We publish everyday. Curios to learn from other daily publishers if they’ve found any strategies that work? Maybe daily articles aren’t the move?
Very open to opinions and thoughts just like your uncle talking politics at Thanksgiving