This would be way too long a comment if I highlighted or quoted everything I loved in it. The whole section about "creating without care" is just singing to my soul. And come on, "True passion walks through walls"!? where do you come up with this stuff? I just plain appreciate your way of seeing and digesting what we're up against in this human challenge. You're my kinda people!!
Grace! So much of this beautiful piece resonates loudly. "[...] the less creators care about what their audience thinks, the more their audience cares about what they have to say", and "True passion walks through walls. It does not apologize or make excuses. It just is, because it has to be. It knows no other way", and finally "The little things make us who we are". You have this prodigious gift of knowing how to put together just the right words to express concepts that are like fog in my head. The minute we start caring about what readers want to read, the magic vanishes and we fold back into uninteresting, flat, standard writing. Thank you for writing this collection of precious thoughts! And thank you for citing me and my bank robbery piece! So honored!
“If we edit out all the eccentric, offbeat parts of ourselves to create content we think people want to consume, then we’re just creating a lukewarm manifestation of what we could be creating instead.”
Yes! I deviated from my usual theme (books) to talk about a film I loved on my Substack letter last week. My views on that letter are way down from my usual number (small anyway) BUT I had a few more comments/replies than usual. I love the freedom of having my own space to write about whatever I want.
I faced the same dilemma for over 20 years. I wanted to write but I resisted for the same reasons as you. Who the heck cares what I have to say? Thank you for deciding to write. It is having an impact on others (including me). But don't fret about what we have to say (or not say). Just keep writing!
This would be way too long a comment if I highlighted or quoted everything I loved in it. The whole section about "creating without care" is just singing to my soul. And come on, "True passion walks through walls"!? where do you come up with this stuff? I just plain appreciate your way of seeing and digesting what we're up against in this human challenge. You're my kinda people!!
Grace! So much of this beautiful piece resonates loudly. "[...] the less creators care about what their audience thinks, the more their audience cares about what they have to say", and "True passion walks through walls. It does not apologize or make excuses. It just is, because it has to be. It knows no other way", and finally "The little things make us who we are". You have this prodigious gift of knowing how to put together just the right words to express concepts that are like fog in my head. The minute we start caring about what readers want to read, the magic vanishes and we fold back into uninteresting, flat, standard writing. Thank you for writing this collection of precious thoughts! And thank you for citing me and my bank robbery piece! So honored!
Dude, this is brilliant:
“If we edit out all the eccentric, offbeat parts of ourselves to create content we think people want to consume, then we’re just creating a lukewarm manifestation of what we could be creating instead.”
"great things are done by a series of small things brought together" – vincent van gogh
Beautifully put, Grace. The ones who care will find each other.
Yes! I deviated from my usual theme (books) to talk about a film I loved on my Substack letter last week. My views on that letter are way down from my usual number (small anyway) BUT I had a few more comments/replies than usual. I love the freedom of having my own space to write about whatever I want.
I faced the same dilemma for over 20 years. I wanted to write but I resisted for the same reasons as you. Who the heck cares what I have to say? Thank you for deciding to write. It is having an impact on others (including me). But don't fret about what we have to say (or not say). Just keep writing!