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Gnug315's avatar

I’m most proud of this post. I’d be curious to get your reaction. Fair warning: it isn’t uplifting.

It is just, I honestly believe, the most serious topic known to mankind: our literal survival as a species.

https://open.substack.com/pub/gnug315/p/part-1-of-5-denial

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Nerdishwrites's avatar

Wow I’m surprised some people got offended by Stephen King’s quote lol. Did they unknowingly just label themselves as the amateurs without fully understanding the quote? I guess reading comprehension is out the window.

Thanks for the recs! I’ve been a bit out of the loop lately, but I can see not much has changed.

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Linda George's avatar

Stephen King told the truth. He wasn't talking about full-time writers. He meant all writers.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

We have funny definitions of writing, too. Writing in a journal for 15 minutes before bed is writing. Don't have to hit publish to call it writing.

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Linda George's avatar

From THE PLOT by Jean Hanff Koreletz

[story] substituted for book by Linda G

"You're only as successful as the last [story] you published, and you're only as good as the next [story] you're writing. So shut up and write."

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The Thinking Other Woman's avatar

Then some of us wake up thirty years later and realize NONE of our stories are very good, and we just don't really have an imagination.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Lol right you are that not much has changed. Technology changes. People, not so much

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Killers and Healers's avatar

But raging meets our need to do something without actually doing something…😀 At least I think that’s the goal! Loved the reminder to stay away from clickbait rage.

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Andrea Johnson Beck's avatar

I stay far away from it, as well.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Can't speak for everyone, but one I hit a negativity threshold, it drags me into a black hole that nothing fixes but nature or sleep. Glad you stay away too :)

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Boy you said a mouthful Tara. Raging makes us feel like we did something. But we didn't really. It's performative.

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Lisa Bolin 🌸's avatar

I don’t agree. It can come from hundreds of years of repression and oppression. Whether you rage by weeding your garden as you swear into the soil, into your journal where you pour vitriol onto the page and then burn it, or pour it into a post on a platform, it gets the rage out. It’s then your choice as to whether to read it or scroll on by.

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David Perlmutter's avatar

You asked for it, and here it is:

https://davidperlmutter.substack.com/p/lost-in-a-forest-060

Just to show you I can write serious non-fiction as well as fiction.

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Jill Ebstein's avatar

Great post. Spot on. Love your line about hope is a thing with feathers.

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Thanks, Jill :)

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Susan Wadds (Deepam)'s avatar

I'm not into rage. I agree with everything you've written here. This post isn't earth-shattering, but in it I wanted to lift, not depress or enrage—just a nudge to be kind in this unkind world.

https://open.substack.com/pub/susanwadds/p/what-is-the-work-to-be-done?r=18urho&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

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Linda Caroll's avatar

That's really beautiful, Susan. Well done.

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Britni Pepper's avatar

Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai inspire me. Hans Rosling's book Factfulness is a necessary guide to living in a world where truth and facts are ignored or distorted by political leaders we depend on to guide our fortunes.

My post on the dangers of AI is something that I feel very strongly about. So many people think that AI is a passing fad, a party trick that we can regulate into harmlessness. They don't know what they are talking about. https://britnip.substack.com/p/can-you-grok-ai

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

My friend Glenn just released a book of photos he took during Deep Covid. It's incredible.

https://open.substack.com/pub/glenncook/p/first-look-keep-your-distance?r=3cbf2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

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Linda Caroll's avatar

Wow, Kevin. I hope he's doing a site, too. Cause the announcement says he took 2000 photos of that year, but 70 made it into the book. I mean, obviously he picked the most killer photos for the book. But I am fascinated at the idea of 2000 photos across all those states. Maybe I'm just a weirdo lol

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

I think he is? I hope so, anyway.

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Vince Mao's avatar

While everyone is entitled to their opinion and feel it is gospel, there's a real danger in believing it to the point where it bends the reality of a situation at best and completely obscures it at worst.

Stephen King is a juggernaut, and the way he reached that point was relentless execution regardless of the circumstances.

It doesn't matter how much or how little you do something as long as you get over that hump of limbic friction, and if it's that hard, then you gotta ask yourself "why?"

We all have our reasons to do this, and those reasons will either keep us going or eventually drive us to lunacy depending on how well it's grounded it reality.

Thanks for this piece, Linda!

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Linda Caroll's avatar

That's an excellent point, Vince. When things are that hard, we need to look at why. Not JUDGE why. But look. Looking inside is hard, but necessary

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Charles Bastille's avatar

Well, I just noticed yesterday that Salman Rushdie has a presence here on Substack. He hasn't posted for a couple of years, but he does have a serialized story here that I plan to read. So I'd have to say he's my current fave here on Substack despite the fade because, well, it's Salman Rushdie.

My favorite stories among those I've written here are usually in Draft stage :-). But I am fond of this short story, even though I don't see much evidence that others see what I see in it:

https://www.ruminato.com/p/thirty-minutes

But that's how it is sometimes, right? I often don't necessarily write for my audience like many writer advisors suggest we should. I just write to blather and say my piece, and if people love it, yay. And if not, well, there's more to be said another day.

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Kathy Ayers's avatar

Great post Linda. Words to live by.

Link below is from a writer in my group about his daughter going off to college.

It’s astonishing.

https://open.substack.com/pub/thisverymoment/p/going-going?r=859zz&utm_medium=ios

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Patricia Ross's avatar

This is about as uplifting as I get: https://medium.com/crows-feet/from-becoming-to-being-b7d23686af76

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Linda Caroll's avatar

That one struck a nerve, hey? Over 3K claps. Good to see!

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Shawna Atteberry's avatar

This is my favorite from the week: https://open.substack.com/pub/kjda/p/that-guilt-trip-the-world-can-go?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=29h4d5. I'm so tired of being told what I should and shouldn't do.

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TK Eldridge's avatar

I really appreciate Dr. Heather Cox Richardson's work https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/

Charlotte Clymer: https://charlotteclymer.substack.com/

E. Jean Carroll https://ejeancarroll.substack.com/

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Jan M. Flynn's avatar

Don't know if this post is my best writing, but it's my best writing news and what I hope is encouragement to others: https://janmflynn.substack.com/p/dreams-still-come-true-heres-proof

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Linda Caroll's avatar

I was so crazy proud to read that post Jan!!

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Jan M. Flynn's avatar

Awwww, that means a LOT coming from you, Linda!

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Julia Perrodin's avatar

Firstly, thank you for your mention, Linda. I am grateful to be in such company.

Second, there are SO MANY, but firstly this piece by you slayed me: https://medium.com/the-narrative-arc/when-words-wont-leave-you-alone-953d1bd07a42

And this one: https://medium.com/the-interstitial/a-light-in-the-dark-0e8699e7ea80

It is difficult to choose between Roman’s, but here are some that stick for sure:

Dandelion Seeds - https://open.substack.com/pub/romannewell/p/dandelion-seeds?r=2gteot&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Going with Grandpa - https://open.substack.com/pub/romannewell/p/going-with-grandpa?r=2gteot&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

The Universe in Storage - https://open.substack.com/pub/romannewell/p/the-universe-in-storage?r=2gteot&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

QuYahni Joseph wrote this piece that was so compassionate and heartbreaking, and I sadly identified with so much of it: https://open.substack.com/pub/qujo4924/p/i-am-was-a-comfort-woman?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Rebecca Goodall with this poem that made me cry (profanity ahead for sensitive readers, but it’s used strategically) I loved it: https://open.substack.com/pub/beccigoodall/p/i-love-you?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

And this one about amazing women in her life: https://open.substack.com/pub/beccigoodall/p/loud-whisper?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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Linda Caroll's avatar

See that placard with your name on it? We save a place for you at the table. Because you belong there. xoxo

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