Writing yourself into existence, how writing is like music, whether men can say “sex”, writing memoir as a man, what we're afraid to write about, writing groups, and our biggest challenge as writers.
Fun to hear how you managed to find signal to cross-post this morning Lyle — and thanks for a great conversation! Looking forward to doing more of these with other writers.
Only a little over half-way through but wanted to share how much I'm enjoying and benefitting from this deeper dive into the Substack writers ecosystem.
For me, writing about what I know seems like a natural starting point for someone that's getting started as a writer. I read somewhere that reality (unlike fiction) doesn't have to make sense which makes me think it's "easier," for me at least.
same here Walter, for sure. I find that those of us who start with our own material tend to have... things that we want to work on, truths we need to work out, and to tell. I see that you also write from your own life experience. Thanks for listening and reading, and great to have you here as a fellow writer! Cheers Walther.
Finally got a chance to listen, great to hear both yours and Lyle’s perspectives! It helps broaden my own approach to writing memoir.
It’s funny you mention your past career in software. I currently work as an engineer and have the same exact thoughts about Substack—great platform development with a priority on writing and networking.
I also can’t express how important a writing group is, at least for me. I meet with one weekly, and the immediate feedback improves how I write in real time. No one even has to say anything for me to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
“No one even has to say anything for me to figure out what works and what doesn’t” expresses it pretty well! I know the feeling -- just reading my own work to myself works pretty well, but reading in a group is more powerful, and I always hear things myself when I do that that help me move things forward. And -- if you are fortunate enough to have a great group, sometimes the feedback and discussion can also be very fruitful.
certainly interesting to hear your experiences on substack and how the community is thriving. Only 20 minutes in will have to pick up the rest tomorrow.
Fun to hear how you managed to find signal to cross-post this morning Lyle — and thanks for a great conversation! Looking forward to doing more of these with other writers.
Only a little over half-way through but wanted to share how much I'm enjoying and benefitting from this deeper dive into the Substack writers ecosystem.
thank you, Andrew, I appreciate you listening and reflecting here. I see that you write on similar subjects. Welcome! You might enjoy this piece of mine in particular: https://open.substack.com/pub/bowendwelle/p/the-truth-about-love
For me, writing about what I know seems like a natural starting point for someone that's getting started as a writer. I read somewhere that reality (unlike fiction) doesn't have to make sense which makes me think it's "easier," for me at least.
same here Walter, for sure. I find that those of us who start with our own material tend to have... things that we want to work on, truths we need to work out, and to tell. I see that you also write from your own life experience. Thanks for listening and reading, and great to have you here as a fellow writer! Cheers Walther.
Finally got a chance to listen, great to hear both yours and Lyle’s perspectives! It helps broaden my own approach to writing memoir.
It’s funny you mention your past career in software. I currently work as an engineer and have the same exact thoughts about Substack—great platform development with a priority on writing and networking.
I also can’t express how important a writing group is, at least for me. I meet with one weekly, and the immediate feedback improves how I write in real time. No one even has to say anything for me to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
“No one even has to say anything for me to figure out what works and what doesn’t” expresses it pretty well! I know the feeling -- just reading my own work to myself works pretty well, but reading in a group is more powerful, and I always hear things myself when I do that that help me move things forward. And -- if you are fortunate enough to have a great group, sometimes the feedback and discussion can also be very fruitful.
Cheers and thanks for listening Matt!
Thanks for giving it a listen, Matt!
Thank you for sharing this, it’s in my queue for tonight.
Great to hear that Matt -- and looking forward to your thoughts after listening!
certainly interesting to hear your experiences on substack and how the community is thriving. Only 20 minutes in will have to pick up the rest tomorrow.
Thanks for listening, Jordon!