i think you should start a substack
take the leap! join the carriebradshawfication of social media
My first ever post on Substack was a trend prediction piece on Polly Pocket. I wrote it in a feverish haze over the Thanksgiving holiday at my parents’ house. My siblings joke about how fixated I was—tapping away on my laptop in a laser focused state after eating plates of stir-fried clams, poached chicken with ginger scallion sauce, and honey walnut prawns. Sitting on the ground of my childhood bedroom. So full. So comfy. So concentrated on a singular task (rare for me).
I was very nervous to hit the “publish” button. Sharing my written work felt exponentially more vulnerable than posting an Instagram photo. It was the anxiety of exposing myself to a different type of judgement. My words would just be out there…vulnerable to being criticized, disliked, misunderstood, etc. But there’s no way of getting around that if you want to take the leap and put yourself out there.
Now, I feel like I’ve gotten the hang of it. It’s not always easy (actually, I don’t think a day goes by without me and
complaining about how hard Substack is), but it’s become a space I am proud of and feel capable of sustaining. The writing process has become less anguished through the unglamorous, tedious thing that is practice.I also genuinely love reading other people’s Substacks. It’s intimate. The relationship feels like something in between having an email pen pal and a Tumblr internet friend. I know their written voice, their personality on paper. And for me, that’s a big part of knowing someone. So I’m always excited when a friend or someone on IG messages me saying they are thinking about starting a Substack. I really think you should.
Here are some pieces of advice I have from my experience starting and writing this newsletter, which will touch on these topics:
why Substack was the right content platform for me
how I relate to my audience
how I try to stay consistent with writing
why I decided to do a paid subscription model