why my substack is staying free

and the gothic book club is back. almost.

Hi pals. How’s this glorious wet July treating you? The clock is ticking on my maternity leave and as you know I’ve been pondering my next steps. In my desperation to ‘do something different’ with my life I’ve been seriously considering how I can ‘Make Substack Work’. And call me a pessimist, but I’ve decided I can’t.

I know I’m not supposed to compare, but it’s feeling saturated out there, and I just don’t have the audience or the expertise to offer anything different. The more Substacks I subscribe to, the more I feel a little sad that a lot of the voices I love and admire are behind a paywall and I just can’t afford to subscribe to everyone. The standard monthly subscription fee seems to be around £5 and I set myself a monthly budget of £20 to support folks on either Substack or Patreon. I’ve had to unsubscribe from so many Substacks because the majority of the emails I get are paywalled. It’s okay. Folks got to earn a living, but my inbox is creaking at the seams.

For me, turning on paid subscriptions will add a level of pressure I don’t need and, let’s be honest, won’t be worth it financially. So the good news is, you get my bullshit for free! I may change my mind, chuck in the day job and make my millions here one day, but it’s unlikely. I also don’t need the distraction. I have a couple of big goals I’m aiming for, one of which is to WRITE MY BLOODY BOOK. So here’s the initial plan for this little space of mine:

• this monthly(ish) newsletter

• my book reviews

• i read self help/creative writing books so you don’t have to - essentially reviews, but I’ll share my main takeaways and perhaps save you the job of reading them!

• relaunching the gothic book club and running it here on Substack

• a working gals writing hour - I’d love to set up a little ‘writing lunch’ group. I need to squeeze writing in to my lunch breaks and hoping some of you will join me.

Let me know in the comments if you’d be interested in joining me for some gothic reads or writing hours. I’ll be looking to start both up in a couple of months.

And please share how you are using Substack? I’d love to hear some of the more creative ways people are using this space.

writing as fast as i can

I’ve just had the pleasure of listening to Lauren Graham’s memoir Talking As Fast As I Can for the first time. As a huge Gilmore Girl’s fan it was a real treat. The perfect warm hug of a book. What I wasn’t expecting was Lauren to dedicate a whole chapter to how she gets writing done in between takes and juggling a busy acting life. I thought I’d share her ‘kitchen timer’ method here. It’s a technique I want to put to the ultimate test - can it get this pro-procrastinator actually writing a novel?

1. Get your timer ready - old fashioned kitchen timer, ask Google or Siri, or use a focus timer like Tide.

2. Decide on Monday how many hours of writing you will do on Tuesday. Put an appointment in the diary, and less is more when you’re first starting out. Maybe aim for an hour on that first day.

3. During the hour, follow the rules. Lauren makes it clear that this is writing time, if you’re not writing then neither are you doing anything else. No phones, no scrolling, and no internet. No music with words unless it’s a language you don’t understand. I love websites like A Soft Murmur or I Miss My Cafe for some ambient background noise, because I can’t work in silence.

4. When your hour starts open two documents - your current writing project and your writing journal. If you don’t have a current project, just crack open the journal.

5. All you have to do for the hour is keep your writing appointment. You don’t have to write a single word. You can stare at a blank screen. You can write in your journal for an hour. When, and if, you feel like it, have a go at your writing project. And if you get bored, head back to your journal.

6. It’s better to write for less time every day, than write for many hours one day and none the next. Plan your time around what you’ve got going on that day. If you’ve got a busy weekend just plan in half an hour, fifteen minutes and stick to that time.

7. When your hour is up, stop. Even if you’re half way through a sentence. You can schedule in more time but make sure you have a break.

8. If you fail to write for your allotted time then you have scheduled too much. Make the next day’s appointment shorter and don’t play catch up. Just move on.

9. When you’ve met your daily goal, congratulate yourself. You’ve stuck to your commitment and the rest of the day is yours to do with as you wish.

five things of note

Please note that I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and links to their website (clearly marked with a *), should you make a purchase, will put some pennies in my pocket. This is not my motivator for recommending books. Any books I recommend or wax lyrical about are genuine recommendations. Thanking you kindly ✌️

• In Defence of a Chaotic Closet - I fell down the rabbit hole of kibbe body types and colour analysis recently and felt even more like I had no style at all. So reading this piece about having a chaotic closet and breaking the rules felt very reassuring.

• The Traitors Australia - nope, still can’t get enough. This is missing some of the dramatics of the UK series but, I dunno, I think it may have been my favourite.

• Why Literary Snobs Don’t Get Bridget Jones - long live the neurotic gal pal. I love Bridget Jones. I’ve always adored Carrie Bradshaw. They’re both so flawed and flaky yet I still want to be their best friend. We all like to think we’re more progressive and smart in 2023, but I still managed to walk around with my skirt tucked into my knickers the other day 🤦

• Fight Night* by Miriam Toews - I’m halfway through this wonderful quick talking, witty novel, narrated by 9 year old Swiv. It’s heart-warming, poignant but above all FUNNY. And I really don’t like child narrators usually.

• Between a Rock and a Card Place - I’m not sure how I came across Caroline’s newsletter but I love her tarot readings. The seven of cups reading in this week’s Sunday Letter is eerily accurate for me right now.

  The Best Advice I've Ever Heard