On Writing and Sharing Every Week

Last spring I started writing and sharing every week. I posted six times in a row and got no likes, no comments, no subscribers, and a handful of views. I’d wager many people quit at that point. I didn’t quit because I like writing, and a few people told me to keep going. So I’m telling you now: keep going. 

The fruit of writing and sharing weekly has not just been numbers on a screen going up; it’s fun, makes meaning of my life, creates connections, and makes me a better thinker.

One year later, hundreds of people are reading my writing every week, which is pretty cool. 

“What’s your growth strategy?” someone asked.

I write and share every week. That’s basically it. I publish stuff that I myself want to read. 

I live an interesting life, talk with interesting people, think, write it down, make myself laugh, and say the scary thing. That’s my secret formula.

I couldn’t stop if I tried.

Every successful long-term growth strategy is product-focused. Pace of innovation, shipping products often, and determination, creates success.

I improve at writing by writing. I also edit, read it out loud, and seek feedback from critical minds. A great way to get better at writing is to write about writing, which I did here. 

I write and I also share. I share links to posts with people I talk to IRL and also in my Circle and Discord groups. I also share on Substack Notes and write in comments sections. Many readers have found me via Notes and comments.

Numbers on a screen

The first hundred subs took 9 months of writing and sharing weekly. The second hundred took 4 months. It’s growing exponentially. But no amount of likes, subs, or sales will ever fill my cup. A number on a screen does not yield contentment or lower anxiety. 

Numbers on a screen are just that, numbers on a screen. Humans aren’t wired to be satisfied once we hit our target subscriber count or a dollar amount. 

“Once I hit $1 million then I can relax and life will be easy.”  I wish it worked like that. For me, it didn’t.

We might always want more. More subs, more likes, more money. And that’s okay. 

There’s always a next step, and the higher you climb, it doesn’t necessarily get easier. For the creators who are just getting started: Enjoy your five subscribers. That’s a dinner table. Forget more people—what are you going to bring to the table?

Chasing money can lead to new skills. 

Chasing women can lead to self-development. 

Chasing subscribers can make you a better writer.

Number of subs is not the fruit—nor dollars. If you’re writing and sharing just for the dollars, you won’t be doing it for much longer. The fruits of writing and sharing every week have been self-development, enjoyment, meaning, and connections. 

I’ve video-called with a bunch of stackers:

Nessa Meshkaty, MD

,

Jack Dixon

,

Paul Millerd

,

CansaFis Foote

,

Jeff Sullivan

,

Patrick O'Loughlin

,

Renee Puvvada

, and about half a dozen other readers too. Here’s my Calendly link for a curiosity conversation.

I’ve also met substack writers in person:

Matthew Harris

,

Lakshmi

,

Brian Wiesner

and

Franklin Einspruch

. Thank you, Internet.  

And this is just the first year. It’s the early days of my writing career, the early days of

Substack

, the early days of the internet, and hopefully, the early days of civilization.

Substack is a special place right now, and I’m leaning into it. Random smart people from around the world reply to my posts on Substack Notes. If I have a question, funny thought, or idea, I share it on Notes. I’m blown away by the quantity and quality of the comments compared to X or other websites. 

Substack and Substack Notes select for writers. Writers tend to be smart people. They write because they’re smart, and they’re smart because they write. 

Reducing my Subs

Substack makes it easy to see subscriber activity.

Of the top nine subs, I’ve talked with seven of them, one-on-one. 

I don’t know who Henry Jerickson or Vuthitam is, but shout out to you guys. 

And shoutout to Aidan Kalisher, who I sat next to at lunch on the first day of seventh grade, who I played in a band with in college, and who is now making films with Joaquín Phoenix. He wrote songs for our band, and they were actually good. Someday those songs will see the light of the internet and be featured in an All Outcomes blog post. 

My email open rate is around 39%. I think that’s low. I don’t want to be relegated to the Promtions tab, or god forbid the spam folder. It’s on me to cultivate a list of subscribers who enjoy my content. Going forward, I will trade quantity for even better quality. So if you get an email from me, it means I think it’s a banger. 

I recently saw one of my emails in the Promotions tab of gmail. If you see it there, you can drag it into the Primary inbox—where it belongs.

There’s no point in emailing accounts who aren’t opening, reading, or engaging with the stories. So I’m removing subscribers. Three people got the boot this week. If you’re reading this, you made the cut.

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Even if no one sees it, I’m happy to create. 

Writing is figuring out what I think, recording and processing my life, and creating something that didn’t exist before. 

I like creating, a lot. 

There is a primordial force in the fabric of what is me that spawns creations. 

Something from nothing. It’s not one of my values—it’s what I am. Creativity delineates me from a rock, or a passively consuming plebeian.

A flowing creek is me, and if it was blocked, I would explode. 

Sharing makes it even more fun. People are going to read this, so I better make it half-decent. I’m always pleasantly surprised when people say they enjoy reading my writing. And very pleasantly surprised when someone gives me money to keep going with independent writing. 

I feel better than a year ago. Smarter. Less angry. Less lonely. And I’m just getting started. If I play my cards right, I’ll be posting regularly for a thousand years. I’m writing about how this is possible in one of my longer essays, Deletion of Death, coming in late June—probably early July. 

I’ll be saying this forever: the value of writing and sharing is incomprehensible. 

The mission isn’t subs. The mission is to make an original contribution. Say something true in an interesting way. Find the others.

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Congratulations! You made it to the end! Hit the heart or drop a comment to let me know you made it (:

Thanks guys. Have a great rest of your day.

Photos

Dog-sitting in Hood River, Oregon

Jack boy thinks he’s a horse, but he’s actually a wolf

Music