I absolutely love the “build a longer table” line--such a beautiful way to put it and describes your own unfailing generosity in these respects so well!
A few months ago a friend and I were on a long hike up a mountain pass and she was asking me about my writing, and eventually I got around to the “people asking me how you make it” line, to which my response for some years has been: You don’t. Nobody ever “makes it” because we all die in the end. Which sounds so bleak to many but she understood because she said, “That sounds really freeing.” Which is exactly it. You can do the work and help lift up others and ask for help when you need to and try harder at things that matter. There is no end until *the* end, so what matters is how you do it.
Me too! We all have Holly to thank for that one. THANK YOU, HOLLY. GREAT JOB.
And I love that philosophy on the writing life. I'm with you on this: it's not bleak at all. Oliver Burkeman said something similar in his recent book "Four Thousand Weeks" (which is the average lifespan of a human being). When you fully accept how finite life is, you can start to properly appreciate how precious all of it is, and motivate yourself a bit better, even in the toughest moments...
I'd love to read an Aeon essay from you on that subject. Just saying.
Thanks for this, Mike--I’ve seen a lot of “how to start a newsletter” posts, and yours is uniquely thoughtful. But more importantly, I thank you for introducing me to the phrase “clown omelet,” which is about to become a part of my everyday vocabulary.
I don't always agree with you, but I have to applaud you for your statement to, "unleash your reckless idiot. Break a few rules." Bravo!
I have spent much of my professional life writing technical stuff for government contractors. It was always very structured and point 1, point 2, point 3. In the last 10 years I have been pushing more and more to "tell the story". Break the model and build a story around points 1, 2, and 3 instead. Challenging for very technical stuff, but it can be done. And I've been teaching my people to do the same to great success.
That now seems to be a trend in my field with many others picking that up. Hmmm... I guess I'll have to find a new rule to break. Check out "The Art of Unintended Consequences" to see how I wrap stories around the facts of true events.
Thank you, Fiona. :) But I'm about 95% sure I didn't invent "hopeletter" - it might have been Rebecca Solnit? Not sure. I will do my best to find out, at the very least to avoid a career-destroying copyright/branding lawsuit...
Thank you, David. And yay for rulebreaking! As long as it's the kind where the only thing that suffers is perhaps our own dignity when we publicly make idiots of ourselves in service of learning something new about the world.
And I firmly agree that good storytelling elevates factual material no end - I've been reading a lot of Nieman Storyboard (https://niemanstoryboard.org/) these last few years and it's the next best thing to getting a masterclass from seasoned nonfiction journalists.
I'll go check out The Art of Unintended Consequences - cheers!
ps. What do we disagree on? 😁 I'm always happy to have some healthy, respectful back & forth...
Oh how I love this! I keep trying to come up with another word instead of "newsletter" and I've taken to calling them "photo essays" - but I really like this expanded creativity! I am going to come up with a better word! And change my (paltry little) website (which only exists to direct people to the letter or social media anyway) accordingly.f
This is fantastic advice - and really made me feel a little more alive just now too. It's FUN and I really want to live in more FUN. Thank you.
UNLEASH THE FUN. Honestly, that is really some of the best advice there is: if you're having fun, every single part of you shows up, and therefore it becomes your very, very best work. Fun is almost like a cheat-code that gives you superhuman powers of concentration and creative thinking. Make it fun, and SuperYou shows up to get the job done!
Thank you, Jill. And - please do borrow it! I think I originally did! 😄 I feel almost totally sure I've taken it from somewhere else (someone else), but have no idea where. Which is my way of saying: I don't deserve credit for it!
I love this--generosity in advice as well as in lifting others. It's a great model to set and follow, and really appreciate that you frame your writing with that intention. Thanks so much for the thoughts and advice and humor!
You are too kind. :) Thank you. I really want to unpack it a lot more! I mean, I know there's good research on all these topics, and Adam Grant's work has been an eye-opener for me, but - I'm well aware that I'm writing with a bias towards these things, so I need to underpin them with a lot more hard data. I have faith that it's there (oh HAI again, bias) but until that work is done, I'm not exactly being scientific about it!
Thank you, Mary! Yeah, the audio feature is so great - and much better now than when they first launched it (back then, it had to be published as a Podcast, but now you can embed the audio in any newsletter). I definitely recommend an external microphone though, and Descript (https://www.descript.com/) is an amazing thing if you can budget for it...
Took a screenshot of the bit about not writing about the news. Every morning when I blog about smoke alarm beeping or the mysteries of people who choose Botox I think about all of the things that I “should” be writing about. Yet people seem to want to read about the little stuff also. Thank you!
"Should" is the enemy of us all. Always scolding us for what we're not doing, always pointing at those other folk who seem to have everything figured out (NARRATOR: "In fact, nobody has anything figured out") and always stopping us from appreciating what we actually have, as well as what we've actually achieved.
Shoulds are always dissatisfied. Shoulds are never fun to hang out with. Shoulds are TERRIBLE companions for that first cup of tea first thing in the morning when everything feels possible and you feel powerful and ready to do all the things.
And Shoulds know nothing about how to make people really, really care. :)
This is so helpful. I love your description of baseball and can see it's a shame we Americans don't build in space for a nap in the stands. That's not the reason this is helpful. No, I've been trying to figure out how to structure what I might be able to contribute to the human conversation and I find this encouraging. I don't have a teapot collection, but the thought reminds me of a particular teacup, sugary hot tea on arrival home from school on a winter afternoon. Now, to boldly go...
I'm so glad you're giving all this madness a go, Cynthia. :) Once you start a newsletter powered by the right kind of enthusiasm, you never quite know where it'll take you...
I absolutely love the “build a longer table” line--such a beautiful way to put it and describes your own unfailing generosity in these respects so well!
A few months ago a friend and I were on a long hike up a mountain pass and she was asking me about my writing, and eventually I got around to the “people asking me how you make it” line, to which my response for some years has been: You don’t. Nobody ever “makes it” because we all die in the end. Which sounds so bleak to many but she understood because she said, “That sounds really freeing.” Which is exactly it. You can do the work and help lift up others and ask for help when you need to and try harder at things that matter. There is no end until *the* end, so what matters is how you do it.
Me too! We all have Holly to thank for that one. THANK YOU, HOLLY. GREAT JOB.
And I love that philosophy on the writing life. I'm with you on this: it's not bleak at all. Oliver Burkeman said something similar in his recent book "Four Thousand Weeks" (which is the average lifespan of a human being). When you fully accept how finite life is, you can start to properly appreciate how precious all of it is, and motivate yourself a bit better, even in the toughest moments...
I'd love to read an Aeon essay from you on that subject. Just saying.
#Mikeavelli
We still need to keep enough aside to build a wall on the southern and western borders of Yorkshire though :p
GAH!
This reminds me of the advice given by John Maynard Keynes: don't concern yourself about the long term because in the long term we're all dead!
Ha ha, yes! So true.
I may now start a cuppaletter about my teapot collection. Brilliant post. Loved it and made me chortle.
Thank you, Nick. And hooray! (If you end up doing that, here's a book about tea that will compliment it beautifully from my friend Candace: https://www.waterstones.com/book/stuff-every-tea-lover-should-know/candace-rose-rardon/9781683691785). Please become the inspiration for a whole network of cuppaletters in all directions, with yourself as the founder of the term. You have the floor.
Oh my Lord, I may have to do this, this comment received more than one like! I genuinely love my tea though, that has to be said.
*checks to see if https://lovemytea.substack.com/ is taken*
*it isn't*
Thanks for this, Mike--I’ve seen a lot of “how to start a newsletter” posts, and yours is uniquely thoughtful. But more importantly, I thank you for introducing me to the phrase “clown omelet,” which is about to become a part of my everyday vocabulary.
Thanks so much, Samantha. :)
May your omelets ever be stuffed with clowns. Bursting with them.
(Please adopt that & any other phrases with my blessing!)
Yes!!! Clown omelet needs to become a household term...
I don't always agree with you, but I have to applaud you for your statement to, "unleash your reckless idiot. Break a few rules." Bravo!
I have spent much of my professional life writing technical stuff for government contractors. It was always very structured and point 1, point 2, point 3. In the last 10 years I have been pushing more and more to "tell the story". Break the model and build a story around points 1, 2, and 3 instead. Challenging for very technical stuff, but it can be done. And I've been teaching my people to do the same to great success.
That now seems to be a trend in my field with many others picking that up. Hmmm... I guess I'll have to find a new rule to break. Check out "The Art of Unintended Consequences" to see how I wrap stories around the facts of true events.
Yes that was the phrase that appealed to me.
Also a hopeletter. I liked that too. Terrific post
Thank you, Fiona. :) But I'm about 95% sure I didn't invent "hopeletter" - it might have been Rebecca Solnit? Not sure. I will do my best to find out, at the very least to avoid a career-destroying copyright/branding lawsuit...
😂
Thank you, David. And yay for rulebreaking! As long as it's the kind where the only thing that suffers is perhaps our own dignity when we publicly make idiots of ourselves in service of learning something new about the world.
And I firmly agree that good storytelling elevates factual material no end - I've been reading a lot of Nieman Storyboard (https://niemanstoryboard.org/) these last few years and it's the next best thing to getting a masterclass from seasoned nonfiction journalists.
I'll go check out The Art of Unintended Consequences - cheers!
ps. What do we disagree on? 😁 I'm always happy to have some healthy, respectful back & forth...
I love this a whole lot, Mike. You're a joy to read!
Well, that has made my day. :) Thank you, Katie! That means an awful lot coming from you. Good lord.
Love this!
Thank you, Alicia. :)
I need time to absorb this but it feels right and I trust you to give us all good info. Cheers.
Oh how I love this! I keep trying to come up with another word instead of "newsletter" and I've taken to calling them "photo essays" - but I really like this expanded creativity! I am going to come up with a better word! And change my (paltry little) website (which only exists to direct people to the letter or social media anyway) accordingly.f
This is fantastic advice - and really made me feel a little more alive just now too. It's FUN and I really want to live in more FUN. Thank you.
UNLEASH THE FUN. Honestly, that is really some of the best advice there is: if you're having fun, every single part of you shows up, and therefore it becomes your very, very best work. Fun is almost like a cheat-code that gives you superhuman powers of concentration and creative thinking. Make it fun, and SuperYou shows up to get the job done!
I love this - and I struggle to "have fun". I know it sounds silly but I'm working on it!
Lots of great advice here. I love the idea of a "hopeletter." I think I might borrow that phrase. :)
Thank you, Jill. And - please do borrow it! I think I originally did! 😄 I feel almost totally sure I've taken it from somewhere else (someone else), but have no idea where. Which is my way of saying: I don't deserve credit for it!
I love this--generosity in advice as well as in lifting others. It's a great model to set and follow, and really appreciate that you frame your writing with that intention. Thanks so much for the thoughts and advice and humor!
You are too kind. :) Thank you. I really want to unpack it a lot more! I mean, I know there's good research on all these topics, and Adam Grant's work has been an eye-opener for me, but - I'm well aware that I'm writing with a bias towards these things, so I need to underpin them with a lot more hard data. I have faith that it's there (oh HAI again, bias) but until that work is done, I'm not exactly being scientific about it!
This is full of such good advice. And I loved the description of baseball/cricket!
Came here via your Note linking it earlier today. Excellent advice. Love the framing of a Nerdletter. My substack is definitely a bit of a Nerdletter.
"However, if you don’t want to write about 'the news', you’re allowed to not write about it without feeling bad about it."
I know this but I needed to hear it again anyway <3
This was so delightful. Thank you! Loved the audio. That’s my next Substack step.
Thank you, Mary! Yeah, the audio feature is so great - and much better now than when they first launched it (back then, it had to be published as a Podcast, but now you can embed the audio in any newsletter). I definitely recommend an external microphone though, and Descript (https://www.descript.com/) is an amazing thing if you can budget for it...
Took a screenshot of the bit about not writing about the news. Every morning when I blog about smoke alarm beeping or the mysteries of people who choose Botox I think about all of the things that I “should” be writing about. Yet people seem to want to read about the little stuff also. Thank you!
"Should" is the enemy of us all. Always scolding us for what we're not doing, always pointing at those other folk who seem to have everything figured out (NARRATOR: "In fact, nobody has anything figured out") and always stopping us from appreciating what we actually have, as well as what we've actually achieved.
Shoulds are always dissatisfied. Shoulds are never fun to hang out with. Shoulds are TERRIBLE companions for that first cup of tea first thing in the morning when everything feels possible and you feel powerful and ready to do all the things.
And Shoulds know nothing about how to make people really, really care. :)
This is so helpful. I love your description of baseball and can see it's a shame we Americans don't build in space for a nap in the stands. That's not the reason this is helpful. No, I've been trying to figure out how to structure what I might be able to contribute to the human conversation and I find this encouraging. I don't have a teapot collection, but the thought reminds me of a particular teacup, sugary hot tea on arrival home from school on a winter afternoon. Now, to boldly go...
I'm so glad you're giving all this madness a go, Cynthia. :) Once you start a newsletter powered by the right kind of enthusiasm, you never quite know where it'll take you...