hahaha yes took a long year of doing nothing. glad to be back!!
also I went to Amsterdam during my travels. it was soooo nice!! I went during the easter break so there were tulips everywhere and the sun was shining! It was beautiful! I'm bummed I missed Kings day though - it looked so fun!
It’s nice that you have a broader range of creative activities that excite you. I feel like I put all my focus Ava energy into writing these days. Do you feel like the other stuff inspires you in other areas? Like after working in visual art, do you feel more energized to write?
I think it does! I've been thinking about how I can incorporate more of my photography with my writing here on Substack. Either as header posts for images or maybe even photo diaries with short stories in the captions... not really sure! I think I just really love to create something, even if it sucks, so I find when I take a break from writing, I pick up my camera more and that's pretty cool. Do you have any other creative interests?
Having kids forces me to do all sorts of creative stuff that I might not otherwise do. Crafting, coloring, playing. Which is great. It gets me into a different kind of headspace, and I’m sure that feeds into other areas of creativity.
Articles like this fascinate me. Such a joy to see how other writers organize their work processes. I am only a little over a year into my writing career, so my processes are still evolving. My current regular publication schedule is Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was also publishing on Saturdays and Sundays, but I noticed my readership was down on those days, so I have eliminated that starting in August. I keep a WIP LIST, a list of planned projects, as well as a Parking Lot where I record ideas to possibly work on later. I review the Parking Lot on Fridays to see if I want to proceed with anything there and to add new ideas there. I try to schedule ahead publication of about two month’s worth of completed pieces, so I always have something teed up and ready to go. I also schedule time for reading writing craft books and articles, as I am still learning as I go. Also, reading for fun time is on my schedule to. I do not write on Saturdays or Sundays. Those days are “me time” and family time.
Until very recently, I have treated Notes like social media. Lots of memes and quotes and the like, but no strategy to use Notes to promote my writing to potential followers and subscribers. I am beginning to change that approach after analyzing my Notes data—likes, restacks, replies and so on. Will see how that works out as new data comes in.
Thanks for reading, Craig! I'm glad you enjoyed the post. You are so structured and data-driven, wow! I love it. Have you noticed any difference in post performance when you schedule in advance versus write something off the cuff? Not sure if you've tried that, but I think it's interesting to see how readers respond. I publish a mix of planned pieces (that I've sometimes spent months working on) and off-the-cuff writing.
Great suggestions! Currently making a “creative writing” notes section in my phone. I’m really torn on whether or not I want to post my newsletters on a consistent day and time. Thoughts on this?
Hi! Just chiming in to say that I post every Thursday night on one Substack and every Monday during the day on another one I own. It helps me create consistency and a routine but it is a lot of pressure to get it out on time each week. My Substacks' support my full time job, but otherwise I would probably post randomly when I had a new article.
Ooo yay! I'm glad that tip about the "creative writing" folder inspired you.
Regarding your publishing schedule, it's hard for me to say because I'm also torn on this. Some of my pieces are planned and I work on them for months, and then schedule them, and some are off-the-cuff, and I don't want to wait too long to publish them when I'm swept up in the moment.
I have played with posting every Sunday and then 1 other day during the week if I have something to say, but I haven't determined a weekly schedule to stick to yet... I'm not sure if I will anytime soon. I've also noticed a mix of this from other writers here on Substack, some have a strict one post per week, always on the same day, and some just publish as they have new work to share. That said, I think if readers know what day to expect a new post from you, it could help boost engagement. I think of the podcasts I listen to regularly, and how I like knowing when the next episode will drop.
Not sure how helpful my reply is! I think go with what feels best/easiest to manage for you so you can consistently write and publish new work (regardless of the day). I believe readers can feel when you're forcing something versus enjoying it and having fun in the process. I've dropped examples of pieces I've worked on for months vs published off the cuff below:
This is such a treasure trove of amazing advice! I’m always so curious about how people store their random ideas, and I’m especially excited to check out the podcast!
Wow, you received some nice comments here! I'm so glad that my question resonated with so many. It also gives me comfort that I'm not alone in this struggle.
I love the comment about not every new thing needs to be followed. Sometimes I have the most brilliant (or what I think are the most brilliant ideas) only to find that after 24 hours it's not so brilliant. That shiny new thing will pull me away from the important thing that I'm working on and cause me to waste time. I don't need to act on everything so immediately.
Thanks for this great advice! I T'ed this up for a restack!
great tips! it's so hard finding a rhythm and organisation way to make this easier so i'm going to try these. i'm all about finding the easiest way
Heyyyy, Ellina! Welcome back! Glad this was helpful. LMK how it works out for you!
hahaha yes took a long year of doing nothing. glad to be back!!
also I went to Amsterdam during my travels. it was soooo nice!! I went during the easter break so there were tulips everywhere and the sun was shining! It was beautiful! I'm bummed I missed Kings day though - it looked so fun!
The tulips are beautiful! Kings Day is fun with all the parties in the street. There’s always next year or the one after that, and so on. ;)
It’s nice that you have a broader range of creative activities that excite you. I feel like I put all my focus Ava energy into writing these days. Do you feel like the other stuff inspires you in other areas? Like after working in visual art, do you feel more energized to write?
I think it does! I've been thinking about how I can incorporate more of my photography with my writing here on Substack. Either as header posts for images or maybe even photo diaries with short stories in the captions... not really sure! I think I just really love to create something, even if it sucks, so I find when I take a break from writing, I pick up my camera more and that's pretty cool. Do you have any other creative interests?
Having kids forces me to do all sorts of creative stuff that I might not otherwise do. Crafting, coloring, playing. Which is great. It gets me into a different kind of headspace, and I’m sure that feeds into other areas of creativity.
That makes sense! Sometimes when I FaceTime with my niece she wants to take turns drawing something and guessing what it is. So cute.
Love your organized thinking :)
Thanks, Amy! ;)
Articles like this fascinate me. Such a joy to see how other writers organize their work processes. I am only a little over a year into my writing career, so my processes are still evolving. My current regular publication schedule is Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was also publishing on Saturdays and Sundays, but I noticed my readership was down on those days, so I have eliminated that starting in August. I keep a WIP LIST, a list of planned projects, as well as a Parking Lot where I record ideas to possibly work on later. I review the Parking Lot on Fridays to see if I want to proceed with anything there and to add new ideas there. I try to schedule ahead publication of about two month’s worth of completed pieces, so I always have something teed up and ready to go. I also schedule time for reading writing craft books and articles, as I am still learning as I go. Also, reading for fun time is on my schedule to. I do not write on Saturdays or Sundays. Those days are “me time” and family time.
Until very recently, I have treated Notes like social media. Lots of memes and quotes and the like, but no strategy to use Notes to promote my writing to potential followers and subscribers. I am beginning to change that approach after analyzing my Notes data—likes, restacks, replies and so on. Will see how that works out as new data comes in.
Thanks for reading, Craig! I'm glad you enjoyed the post. You are so structured and data-driven, wow! I love it. Have you noticed any difference in post performance when you schedule in advance versus write something off the cuff? Not sure if you've tried that, but I think it's interesting to see how readers respond. I publish a mix of planned pieces (that I've sometimes spent months working on) and off-the-cuff writing.
Great suggestions! Currently making a “creative writing” notes section in my phone. I’m really torn on whether or not I want to post my newsletters on a consistent day and time. Thoughts on this?
Hi! Just chiming in to say that I post every Thursday night on one Substack and every Monday during the day on another one I own. It helps me create consistency and a routine but it is a lot of pressure to get it out on time each week. My Substacks' support my full time job, but otherwise I would probably post randomly when I had a new article.
Ooo yay! I'm glad that tip about the "creative writing" folder inspired you.
Regarding your publishing schedule, it's hard for me to say because I'm also torn on this. Some of my pieces are planned and I work on them for months, and then schedule them, and some are off-the-cuff, and I don't want to wait too long to publish them when I'm swept up in the moment.
I have played with posting every Sunday and then 1 other day during the week if I have something to say, but I haven't determined a weekly schedule to stick to yet... I'm not sure if I will anytime soon. I've also noticed a mix of this from other writers here on Substack, some have a strict one post per week, always on the same day, and some just publish as they have new work to share. That said, I think if readers know what day to expect a new post from you, it could help boost engagement. I think of the podcasts I listen to regularly, and how I like knowing when the next episode will drop.
Not sure how helpful my reply is! I think go with what feels best/easiest to manage for you so you can consistently write and publish new work (regardless of the day). I believe readers can feel when you're forcing something versus enjoying it and having fun in the process. I've dropped examples of pieces I've worked on for months vs published off the cuff below:
Spent a lot of time on this one before publishing: https://alexismeradamen.substack.com/p/toothless-teenager
Wrote and published on the same day:
https://alexismeradamen.substack.com/p/losing-my-mind-building-a-writing-career
Feel free to ask more questions! :)
This is such a treasure trove of amazing advice! I’m always so curious about how people store their random ideas, and I’m especially excited to check out the podcast!
Thanks, Lindsey! Glad you found this helpful/interesting. LMK your thoughts about the podcast! :)
Wow, you received some nice comments here! I'm so glad that my question resonated with so many. It also gives me comfort that I'm not alone in this struggle.
I love the comment about not every new thing needs to be followed. Sometimes I have the most brilliant (or what I think are the most brilliant ideas) only to find that after 24 hours it's not so brilliant. That shiny new thing will pull me away from the important thing that I'm working on and cause me to waste time. I don't need to act on everything so immediately.
Thanks for this great advice! I T'ed this up for a restack!
You're welcome! Glad you found it helpful. Those shiny new ideas are always so hard to resist!