Thank You for Being on Substack
Reflections on my 1st Substack Anniversary and making a place I want to hang out.
How I ended up here…
is a lot like how I start most adventures. Things1 seem to be pointing in a specific direction and my curious heart can’t help but follow.
My college friend, and fellow screenwriting graduate, Joelle Garfinkel was here.
The amazing Paul Madonna was here.
I was almost done with the draft of a novella that I had no intent of shopping for representation/traditional publishing.
Somehow, that all seemed to say ⇒ Substack.
So, I jumped into the deep end with nothing set up. No logos. No brand guide. No plan. I knew if I didn’t jump in, I’d never start.
My first post was titled “The Overachievers Club,” incidentally, not the original title of my publication.2
For some reason, it spoke to Paul Madonna. He posted about it and subscribed to me. It’s an auspicious start when an artist you admire becomes your 2nd subscriber3… and it was also the little reward I needed to take my Substack slightly more serious.
Thank you, Paul, for the extra boost of confidence.
Like any writer, over 75% of what I’ve written will never be read by anyone but me.
There’s a million and one things I’ve written — or started to write — and not completed. I wanted a blog of all the tiny coffee shops you could visit in out-of-the-way places like Appleton, WI. It was not called All Over Coffee, but it could have been.
I started a blog diagraming film screenplays4. It is withering on (or purged from) Russian servers somewhere5. The same with my music review blog.
I wrote on Livejournal, Xanga, Blogger, Tumblr, and I think another one I’ve long forgotten. Blogspot, maybe? I almost started a Medium. But I never did.
Substack stuck because people actually showed up. Maybe I should have shopped the novella... but that still doesn’t sound fun to me. So, it currently lives here for free.
What I really wanted was a place to talk about art with the art kids, music with the music people, cooking with the kitchen scientists, writing with authors, philosophy with deep thinkers…
and I wanted to be silly.
My favorite Livejournal posts were either silly or thoughtful; there were cartoons I made of ketchup (my most hated commercial condiment6) attacking my tonsils, a board meeting held in a real estate office by a Carebear, a tangle of vignettes about riding buses at night. Creativity and whimsy usually go hand-in-hand, I find.
If commercialism is coming for whimsy, I’m holding on to sillyness.
I joked when I started Substack that it was my adult Livejournal minus the angsty college-age posts. Because I was always silly and creative. But I was also uncurated.
I can’t say as though this Substack is truly curated either. But it’s better than its quarterlife predecessor. The next evolution, at least.
And that’s how we ended up with today’s Overachievers Club.
In the Overachievers Club you’ll get:
– Weekly collections of ideas, habits, and cultural notes
– Deeper essays on creativity, attention, and adult life
– Occasional fiction and free-writes
Won’t you join me?
About Year 1
I have changed my primary category 4 times. I’m still not sure where I belong. I landed on “Design” for now.
I have changed my logo/banner 3 times. The first one was a lazy graphic I mocked up in Microsoft Word. As a former graphic designer, I’m ashamed. So, let’s forget that one…. We all make lazy choices sometimes.
I had an unexpected viral post that walked dangerously close to becoming a “How-To” guide. Dear readers, I am not a How-To person7 I am a “Lead by Example” person. I love to share advice, but I think you should always do what feels right and works for you! My perspective is only mine.
My RL friends Allison (Risi), Mallory (Melcat), and Gina have not missed a post since subscribing. Thank you, friends, for believing in my writing 🙏🏻
I did finally make a brand guide. It’s been helpful. But much like writing outlines after I’ve written part of the story, I found it easier to define what I wanted to do after I had experience with what I didn’t want to do. To me, defining the type of Substack I didn’t want to be was almost more powerful than the one I want.
I also managed to find some art kids, philosophers, and authors to talk with! I’m still working on the music and kitchen people…. If you’re one of those, let’s talk!
And Happy Anniversary to the Overachievers Club.
I appreciate you sharing this backyard with me.
Let the curiosity, ideation, and whimsy continue!
Signs, fates, serendipitous pointers, etc.
I made one of Linda’s first mistakes and left it defaulted to “Rebecca’s Substack.” If you haven’t read the article I just linked, you really should. Especially if you’re just starting your Substack journey.
My husband was the first. 🥰
I think it was called “Schmoovies” and had the MGM motto “ars gratia artis” as it’s tagline.
Did you know Russia bought Live Journal? I found out a few years back and culled my primary journal. I couldn’t remember the passwords or emails for my ancillary publications….
You will never convince me that it improves anything it touches.
Unsurprisingly, some of the folks who subscribed because of that post promptly left. Shockingly, more stuck around than I expected. If one of those people was you, thank you for joining me!
Yay! Glad you're still here! Thanks too for the kind words ☺️
Happy anniversary! 🎉