That made me smile, Carl. One of the things I really like here is how interactive my readers are. Doesn't even feel like a writer and readers, it feels more like we're building some kind of community and I like that a lot.
Those fires are horrific and I share your admiration for the cab driver that helped. We're going through a similar horror here in Texas where over 100 have died from flooding and 27 children are still missing. The odds of any being found alive are near zero. Nature can be cruel. Looking for positives -- I think you may be on to something with your secret group. It reminds me of Bari Weiss' now-legendary resignation letter from the NYT, and how she built her own media empire. I hope you will have the same outcome, and I'm in. Being an app developer, I'm not really trying to make money as a writer, but I like to follow smart people and good writers. That's you on both counts.
Aww, Jim, thank you so much. Some days I feel so beat up by the world. Smoke is rolling in again as I type this. I used to have a house in Texas, past tense casualty of divorce, but I watch the news and share the horror and remember beautiful mornings picking oranges off a tree in the backyard of a little house in Texas. If I can achieve some measure of what Bari Weiss did, I will fall to my knees in gratitude. And thank you :)
This helped. The cab driver story choked me up. And reminded me that all breaking news isn't about horrible people doing horrible things. Thank you! ❤️
Oh God, Robyn I hear you. When that cab driver pulled away, I sat on my back step with tears in my eyes. He was a small man, not much bigger than me. But he was seven feet tall, you know? I felt what you said. The world isn't all horrible. And thank you, too xo
I just pledged my subscription for when your hidden group comes online. Your mention of a secret garden is inspiring. I am going to write a poem about my secret garden where I let readers and viewers of my art and poetry peek in. No one else has full access to my secret garden, just me.
Branwen, the rain haiku is beautiful. The last two words - so perfect. So perfect. I haven't read more yet, but I wanted to stop and say wow. And thank you so much. A world filled with secret gardens and little spaces to discover sounds like the kind of world I want to be part of. :)
I’m interested Linda, but I don’t know for sure if you expect steady contributions. My heart health controls how much work I can do each day. When I’m feeling well I can go full bore.,Other days I’m slow and too limited by a cold plus my heart condition. Bad smoke days really slow me down too.
Excuse me if this is a dumb question. I currently get emails of your Substack posts. By subscribers, do you mean people paying $10/month or $100/year? I could certainly use some help dashing through the flames.
This feels important. I can’t explain my reaction more adequately than that. It just feels important. A secret band of fellow humans uniting together to battle for the sake of authentic creativity. It’s not saving lives, but it’s saving something essential.
Linda-- Fantastic! That is the best almost-introduction writing I've experienced.
To your point--good marketing or that ick feeling? I believe in professionals getting paid for work that provides value and meaning for readers and customers. I fight for truth and clarity every day. Some writers are terrific and that paywall that pops up in the 3rd paragraph forces a decision. Do I stay and pay, or go to unsubscribe now and avoid the breakup awkwarness later?
You already know you are in my Top Ten of thousands of writers on Substack and elsewhere. I'm not interested in tutorials or anything that is "self-paced" because experience tells me if someone was going to do what I suggest or teach, they would have done it by now. What works is your concept of the ongoing writer's retreat. What works is dialogue and breaking it down to one damn thing a day I Start/Do/Finish with plenty of feedback and customer voices, shaping the story, my writing, like group hands-on at the pottery wheel. Not a crowd. Two or three who know what they are talking about is plenty for me.
I’ve been waiting forever for a writers’ group to fall into my lap that isn’t $1200 for some proctor to tell me that what I’m writing is “so interesting!” And frankly what I’m churning out now is just “can’t-not-write” BS, not even interesting to me, mostly, the literary equivalent of teenagers smoking resin. Count me in.
Linda. This is fabulous. Your essay and the offering.
Question. Some months ago you wrote that people could sign up and select one of the offered financial pledges for when you decide to go paid. I did that at that time. Will that now be activated and I will see a charge for the sign up? Or do I need to do something further? I am in, either way.
Very excited. I have three different projects going on. All involve writing and a (soon to be) substack page (for each one). One of the three is only about writing, food writing, and I am making some progress. Some. So absolutely I am thrilled to work with you.
I really appreciated your honesty, your fear, and your trying to do something about it. It was a great taxi story. Courage is being afraid and doing it anyway. I'm probably not your audience because I don't intend to ever charge for my Substack. My writing here has improved because of reading other writers' touching and well-written stories, like yours. Good luck with your plan. Also, I may have missed it, but I guessed you're in Canada, but don't know where? Blue
Yes, I am interested. I could do piece work research, ad hoc for writers if they needed reference sources to help them in writing their articles
That made me smile, Carl. One of the things I really like here is how interactive my readers are. Doesn't even feel like a writer and readers, it feels more like we're building some kind of community and I like that a lot.
Those fires are horrific and I share your admiration for the cab driver that helped. We're going through a similar horror here in Texas where over 100 have died from flooding and 27 children are still missing. The odds of any being found alive are near zero. Nature can be cruel. Looking for positives -- I think you may be on to something with your secret group. It reminds me of Bari Weiss' now-legendary resignation letter from the NYT, and how she built her own media empire. I hope you will have the same outcome, and I'm in. Being an app developer, I'm not really trying to make money as a writer, but I like to follow smart people and good writers. That's you on both counts.
Aww, Jim, thank you so much. Some days I feel so beat up by the world. Smoke is rolling in again as I type this. I used to have a house in Texas, past tense casualty of divorce, but I watch the news and share the horror and remember beautiful mornings picking oranges off a tree in the backyard of a little house in Texas. If I can achieve some measure of what Bari Weiss did, I will fall to my knees in gratitude. And thank you :)
This helped. The cab driver story choked me up. And reminded me that all breaking news isn't about horrible people doing horrible things. Thank you! ❤️
Oh God, Robyn I hear you. When that cab driver pulled away, I sat on my back step with tears in my eyes. He was a small man, not much bigger than me. But he was seven feet tall, you know? I felt what you said. The world isn't all horrible. And thank you, too xo
I just pledged my subscription for when your hidden group comes online. Your mention of a secret garden is inspiring. I am going to write a poem about my secret garden where I let readers and viewers of my art and poetry peek in. No one else has full access to my secret garden, just me.
Branwen, the rain haiku is beautiful. The last two words - so perfect. So perfect. I haven't read more yet, but I wanted to stop and say wow. And thank you so much. A world filled with secret gardens and little spaces to discover sounds like the kind of world I want to be part of. :)
I’m interested Linda, but I don’t know for sure if you expect steady contributions. My heart health controls how much work I can do each day. When I’m feeling well I can go full bore.,Other days I’m slow and too limited by a cold plus my heart condition. Bad smoke days really slow me down too.
But, I love your idea 🌹
Of course I'm in, if i can.. 😊
Yes, the taxi driver is a hero.
Excuse me if this is a dumb question. I currently get emails of your Substack posts. By subscribers, do you mean people paying $10/month or $100/year? I could certainly use some help dashing through the flames.
This feels important. I can’t explain my reaction more adequately than that. It just feels important. A secret band of fellow humans uniting together to battle for the sake of authentic creativity. It’s not saving lives, but it’s saving something essential.
Hi Linda, I am interested in your Secret Garden writers group.
The taxi driver story gripped me, thank you for telling it.
Linda-- Fantastic! That is the best almost-introduction writing I've experienced.
To your point--good marketing or that ick feeling? I believe in professionals getting paid for work that provides value and meaning for readers and customers. I fight for truth and clarity every day. Some writers are terrific and that paywall that pops up in the 3rd paragraph forces a decision. Do I stay and pay, or go to unsubscribe now and avoid the breakup awkwarness later?
You already know you are in my Top Ten of thousands of writers on Substack and elsewhere. I'm not interested in tutorials or anything that is "self-paced" because experience tells me if someone was going to do what I suggest or teach, they would have done it by now. What works is your concept of the ongoing writer's retreat. What works is dialogue and breaking it down to one damn thing a day I Start/Do/Finish with plenty of feedback and customer voices, shaping the story, my writing, like group hands-on at the pottery wheel. Not a crowd. Two or three who know what they are talking about is plenty for me.
There's more than one kind of hero, Linda. Blessings and gratitude to you.
I’ve been waiting forever for a writers’ group to fall into my lap that isn’t $1200 for some proctor to tell me that what I’m writing is “so interesting!” And frankly what I’m churning out now is just “can’t-not-write” BS, not even interesting to me, mostly, the literary equivalent of teenagers smoking resin. Count me in.
What a lovely way to approach this, keeping everyone safe from the fires on both sides of the road.
Linda. This is fabulous. Your essay and the offering.
Question. Some months ago you wrote that people could sign up and select one of the offered financial pledges for when you decide to go paid. I did that at that time. Will that now be activated and I will see a charge for the sign up? Or do I need to do something further? I am in, either way.
Very excited. I have three different projects going on. All involve writing and a (soon to be) substack page (for each one). One of the three is only about writing, food writing, and I am making some progress. Some. So absolutely I am thrilled to work with you.
A big thank you.
I really appreciated your honesty, your fear, and your trying to do something about it. It was a great taxi story. Courage is being afraid and doing it anyway. I'm probably not your audience because I don't intend to ever charge for my Substack. My writing here has improved because of reading other writers' touching and well-written stories, like yours. Good luck with your plan. Also, I may have missed it, but I guessed you're in Canada, but don't know where? Blue
Thank you, I am interested in learning from as experienced and accomplished a person as you in the realms of writing and marketing.