Three years of apathy, lassitude, and failure
a day ago
- #reflection
- #substack
- #writing
- The author reflects on three years of writing on Substack, noting a decline in output from 45 posts in the first year to 17 in the third.
- Despite fewer posts, the last year saw higher readership, with six of the top ten most-read pieces published in that period.
- The author critiques their own work, expressing disappointment that popular pieces were often kneejerk political takes or polemics.
- A promise was made to limit straightforward 'takes' and experiment with form, which was largely kept, with progress in mixing genres and styles.
- The author lists numerous unwritten pieces, ranging from literary critiques to satirical fiction, lamenting their failure to materialize.
- Personal challenges, including a family tragedy, impacted productivity, but the author admits to becoming 'fat and lazy' with success.
- A call to readers to unsubscribe is made, framed as a way to provoke the author into producing better work by removing financial security.
- The author humorously laments the failure of subscriber growth to reach exponential levels, joking about missed opportunities for galactic readership.