I loved reading this! The research as a leisure activity article genuinely influenced my life a lot, as I finally started to go through the massive list of things I was interested in researching for fun, not for assignments, and looked into them! I decided the best way for me to do that was to start a publication and write the things I found in the random topics I researched, and even though it’s brand new I have been having so much fun with it. Being more active with posting has also made me more active with reading, and I have discovered some really cool people with amazing ideas on here! Not telling people I know about my writing has definitely made posting less daunting, and since I feel like I get something out of what I write I’ve been more consistent which is new for me. Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts!
This makes me so happy to hear! Also, I had a very similar experience as you re: "Being more active with posting has also made me more active with reading." It's nice to have writing as a way to learn more—I used to think that you had to know everything and THEN write, but in reality the writing can be a way you process new information and push yourself to research more.
There's just a really nice generative loop of reading–writing–discussing–reading–writing that posting online (an underrated form of writing, imo…) can facilitate! Thanks for reading and for this lovely comment.
I'll share a bit of my own story that resonates with your ideas on writing as a practice: I've been writing for the blog 3 Quarks Daily for just over three years now. Every year they have a submission period in the summer when you can submit an essay to become a monthly columnist. I'd submitted for at least four years, being rejected each time, but then one summer I wrote something for no reason--just because I had an interesting idea--and then that submission period came around. I submitted it along with a note that said something like "you've rejected me many times but I don't care, I'm gonna keep submitting every summer until you accept me." Then they accepted my submission that summer and I've written a monthly essay ever since, never missing a month. I started my Substack a couple years ago to repost those essays and have also started writing new essays here, too. The surprising thing for me is that writing becomes so much easier with practice; it should be obvious, I guess, but it really is just a habit that you have to form. It used to be a struggle to write even 1,000 words, and I used to think I had to write with pen and paper. Now I write anywhere, on anything, and it just seems to work. There is a danger of falling into repetitive patterns, but that's better than the alternative (the blank page). I can't overstate how transformative that monthly deadline was for me--I'm unfortunately a person with no self-discipline, but when that discipline comes from an authority outside myself, I'm incredibly disciplined. Anyway, here's to your continued success, and thank you for sparking these reflections, which I've never shared before.
Derek! Thank you so much for sharing this story. Selfishly (because I need more propaganda to fight against my natural FEAR OF REJECTION)…it is so so useful to have stories of people pushing through anyway and getting something really rewarding out of it. This is such a satisfying narrative of triumph after persistent, patient striving!
Also, it's funny how certain ideas—like writing being a habit—are so readily available to us through the usual self-help, artistic advice-y sources…and yet I feel like I've had to learn all of them through direct experience! It feels ridiculous to have to learn these things that I thought I knew…but clearly never internalized and fully understood.
This is so wonderful to read, Celine! Congratulations on such a BIG year!
Your newsletters has been deeply meaningful to me. I found you at a time when I was really struggling with the lack of intellectual rigor in my own life, I was feeling sad and definitely in a state of "lack"... I found "Personal Canon" shortly after I started writing about books (in April of this year, with Sarah Fay's gentle kick in the pants) and in your writing I found an answer to my question of how I could have a more intellectually satisfying life given that I am not finding what I am looking for in my day job. I started using my newsletter as a gym for my brain and it has been truly transformative. Your work has given me so much food for thought, ideas for further reading but also -- most importantly -- validation that my inner life is worth fighting for. Thank you, always!
Petya!!! Thank you so much for this really lovely comment. It's so interesting how many of us are just like…starved for a certain kind of intellectual excitement and engagement, and then reading/writing newsletters become a way of creating that in our lives.
Also, the idea that certain kinds of writing can give "validation that my inner life is worth fighting for"—such a lovely phrase and one I'll be thinking about for some time!
I actually think there's one other piece of your newsletter's growth that's not in here, but it's probably because you don't think of it as a strategy—you are very conscientious about tagging people. Most people (myself included) tend to be like "there's a conversation…" but you always name specific people, pull out specific quotes, and you tag them. It's very generous and courteous behavior.
ahh, thank you!! I'm wondering now if this habit comes from reading academic writing/doing my MA a few years ago—all these sentences that go, "As McClay shows in…"
it's definitely a useful strategy on Substack; it's also what makes writing a newsletter here (and the back-and-forth between the newsletter posts, the restacks, the notes, &c) feel a bit more forum-like instead of social media–y, which I appreciate!
I'm very thankful for so much of your work Celine, especially how you follow your own interests and write without a 'content schedule', but I especially LOVE how committed you are to writing longform essays. I like the quick-bite of a short email, but with your longer pieces I feel like you're trusting readers and giving them a full meal, and that's what I crave. Really excited to keep reading your work -- congrats on such an exciting year!
It's also extremely gratifying to have readers who enjoy longer posts (although…I do honestly think I need more practice with being brief! it's good to work against one's natural tendencies, I think, just to see what can happen?). Thanks for your kind comment, and hoping we both have a really meaningful writing year ahead of us 🖋️
ah that’s so kind of you!! Yeah i totally agree about challenging oneself, i’m trying to display a bit more brevity in 2025, but we’ll see how that goes! i’m excited for our year in writing :)
Viv!! I'm so happy too, and thank you for organizing the meetup with Ethaney and kicking this all off. I really enjoy how fun and exploratory your newsletter is—I always enjoy reading it, it's been exciting to feel like you and others are reviving the lost art of personal style blogging!
Huge congratulations! It's been a pleasure to see you grow as a writer, and can't forget that serendipitous day we met when I was like... are you THE Celine? Continuing to love your ambitious, thoughtful writing and thank you for expanding my vision of what writing could be.
that was such a good day—I really want to write something about how meaningful it is to find people online who match your interests, and then shift that rapport to offline spaces (accidentally or intentionally!)
have so appreciated being able to speak to you and explore ideas together—very grateful for all our conversations and excited for the future ones!!
You have a new fan & supporter 🙋🏻♀️ loved this. It motivated me to get more serious about publishing more often, and I loved the validation around not picking a niche, but more of a way of seeing things.
so glad to hear this! lately I've been thinking of things like having a "voice" or a "niche" as things that are defined retrospectively…it's too much pressure to know these things upfront, and easier to just start writing and see what happens
thank you so much for subscribing, and I really hope you'll enjoy future posts!
and I'm very similar—I'm always forgetting to like posts, and then a few weeks later I have to scour my browser history to remember that one great thing I read…weeks ago…and can't find…
i really appreciate this essay, as always with the essays you publish. i’ve had a bit of a weird relationship with writing as a practice over the last year because i spend a lot of time researching freelance pitches, many of which don’t result in a commission (but i still hold out hope) and perhaps aren’t suitable for substack, and it’s easier and perhaps more prudent to pursue the research and writing that pays the bills than write an essay for my blog. part of my own obstacle that i can observe and identify has to do with a sheepishness that i think, with time and consistency, i can conquer. thank u for this <3333
and p.s. i saw my grandfather this seek for the first time in a few years, he’s reading proust rn and i thought of u :’)
Casey!! Thank you so much for this comment. One thing I didn't mention here, but was also very much a motivation…last year I was working on a piece I was VERY excited about (for a magazine I really revered in my high school years, too) and then for various events out of my control & the editor's control, we weren't able to publish it.
I still believe in the work that traditional media institutions do, and I still want to write for them—but there is so much that's not in your control! So it's a huge relief to have a space where any ideas, research, stray thoughts &c will ALWAYS have a home. In particular, it's been so nice to not have to peg a post to recent news and just write about whatever is interesting to me now…
Wishing you success and luck with next year's freelance writing—but I do hope that, when you have the time and energy, we'll get to see the bits of stray ideas and research on your newsletter!!
that’s such a bummer—i’m sorry that piece didn’t end up working out! i totally agree with you here, and i’m going to continue to work on that balance, and making it work for me, in 2025. i did a few interviews at a protest in argentina for a piece i was pitching, for example, but when it didn’t get picked up i folded those into my last substack post :) lots of synergies with the different writing projects i have going on. i’m very grateful!
thank you Michael! I think some of that has to do with platform dynamics too—I think this is the year Substack's growth hit an inflection point (from my perception, at least) and so a lot of small newsletters are seeing a huge amount of growth
Hi Celine:) started reading your newsletter in June this year, and have come to love your writing style, adored and taken your book recommendations seriously, and learnt a lot about various topics ranging from human behaviour, to architecture to video games.Thank you!
Great post, thank you for putting eloquent words to what I think SO many people feel about the daunting task/ideal of writing (including me). I think my Xmas present to myself will be Atomic Habits.
Thank you!! What's helped me actually get started writing is seeing other people explain their own emotional/psychological fears, and show how they got over them…I'm really happy that I can do the same for others. Really appreciate you reading, and I do hope you enjoy Atomic Habits (super succinct and useful imo)
First time I've come across your work Celine and I've been on Substack for a year as well. I blitzed through this post and you're right, 6,000 words goes fast when you're so interested in what someone has to say!
I loved your point about the most exciting outcome: that you could start a topic and finish writing it. I've noticed my tendency to form ideas and follow through on an essay is much sharper than what it was from a year ago, which drives home the point that writing needs practice. Writing is like a muscle and it needs its reps.
I'm curious, do you tell people about your newsletter now or does it spread simply by word of mouth? I've subscribed and hope to read some more in your archives.
Istiaq, thanks so much for reading! And yes, I feel like the total trust in yourself—knowing you can start and finish what you set out to do—is the greatest gift that a writing practice can offer. And it is very much like a fitness/strength-training routine in that regarding!
I loved reading this! The research as a leisure activity article genuinely influenced my life a lot, as I finally started to go through the massive list of things I was interested in researching for fun, not for assignments, and looked into them! I decided the best way for me to do that was to start a publication and write the things I found in the random topics I researched, and even though it’s brand new I have been having so much fun with it. Being more active with posting has also made me more active with reading, and I have discovered some really cool people with amazing ideas on here! Not telling people I know about my writing has definitely made posting less daunting, and since I feel like I get something out of what I write I’ve been more consistent which is new for me. Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts!
This makes me so happy to hear! Also, I had a very similar experience as you re: "Being more active with posting has also made me more active with reading." It's nice to have writing as a way to learn more—I used to think that you had to know everything and THEN write, but in reality the writing can be a way you process new information and push yourself to research more.
There's just a really nice generative loop of reading–writing–discussing–reading–writing that posting online (an underrated form of writing, imo…) can facilitate! Thanks for reading and for this lovely comment.
I'll share a bit of my own story that resonates with your ideas on writing as a practice: I've been writing for the blog 3 Quarks Daily for just over three years now. Every year they have a submission period in the summer when you can submit an essay to become a monthly columnist. I'd submitted for at least four years, being rejected each time, but then one summer I wrote something for no reason--just because I had an interesting idea--and then that submission period came around. I submitted it along with a note that said something like "you've rejected me many times but I don't care, I'm gonna keep submitting every summer until you accept me." Then they accepted my submission that summer and I've written a monthly essay ever since, never missing a month. I started my Substack a couple years ago to repost those essays and have also started writing new essays here, too. The surprising thing for me is that writing becomes so much easier with practice; it should be obvious, I guess, but it really is just a habit that you have to form. It used to be a struggle to write even 1,000 words, and I used to think I had to write with pen and paper. Now I write anywhere, on anything, and it just seems to work. There is a danger of falling into repetitive patterns, but that's better than the alternative (the blank page). I can't overstate how transformative that monthly deadline was for me--I'm unfortunately a person with no self-discipline, but when that discipline comes from an authority outside myself, I'm incredibly disciplined. Anyway, here's to your continued success, and thank you for sparking these reflections, which I've never shared before.
Derek! Thank you so much for sharing this story. Selfishly (because I need more propaganda to fight against my natural FEAR OF REJECTION)…it is so so useful to have stories of people pushing through anyway and getting something really rewarding out of it. This is such a satisfying narrative of triumph after persistent, patient striving!
Also, it's funny how certain ideas—like writing being a habit—are so readily available to us through the usual self-help, artistic advice-y sources…and yet I feel like I've had to learn all of them through direct experience! It feels ridiculous to have to learn these things that I thought I knew…but clearly never internalized and fully understood.
Yes! Theory vs. practice
This is so wonderful to read, Celine! Congratulations on such a BIG year!
Your newsletters has been deeply meaningful to me. I found you at a time when I was really struggling with the lack of intellectual rigor in my own life, I was feeling sad and definitely in a state of "lack"... I found "Personal Canon" shortly after I started writing about books (in April of this year, with Sarah Fay's gentle kick in the pants) and in your writing I found an answer to my question of how I could have a more intellectually satisfying life given that I am not finding what I am looking for in my day job. I started using my newsletter as a gym for my brain and it has been truly transformative. Your work has given me so much food for thought, ideas for further reading but also -- most importantly -- validation that my inner life is worth fighting for. Thank you, always!
Petya!!! Thank you so much for this really lovely comment. It's so interesting how many of us are just like…starved for a certain kind of intellectual excitement and engagement, and then reading/writing newsletters become a way of creating that in our lives.
Also, the idea that certain kinds of writing can give "validation that my inner life is worth fighting for"—such a lovely phrase and one I'll be thinking about for some time!
The phrase stuck me too!
Thanks to Petya :) and you, both of you..yeah!
I actually think there's one other piece of your newsletter's growth that's not in here, but it's probably because you don't think of it as a strategy—you are very conscientious about tagging people. Most people (myself included) tend to be like "there's a conversation…" but you always name specific people, pull out specific quotes, and you tag them. It's very generous and courteous behavior.
ahh, thank you!! I'm wondering now if this habit comes from reading academic writing/doing my MA a few years ago—all these sentences that go, "As McClay shows in…"
it's definitely a useful strategy on Substack; it's also what makes writing a newsletter here (and the back-and-forth between the newsletter posts, the restacks, the notes, &c) feel a bit more forum-like instead of social media–y, which I appreciate!
I'm very thankful for so much of your work Celine, especially how you follow your own interests and write without a 'content schedule', but I especially LOVE how committed you are to writing longform essays. I like the quick-bite of a short email, but with your longer pieces I feel like you're trusting readers and giving them a full meal, and that's what I crave. Really excited to keep reading your work -- congrats on such an exciting year!
Michael!!! This means a lot, as always—I really respect your longform writing and this post of yours is probably in my top 5 Substack essays I've read this year: https://michaelrance.substack.com/p/you-can-live-the-wrong-life
It's also extremely gratifying to have readers who enjoy longer posts (although…I do honestly think I need more practice with being brief! it's good to work against one's natural tendencies, I think, just to see what can happen?). Thanks for your kind comment, and hoping we both have a really meaningful writing year ahead of us 🖋️
ah that’s so kind of you!! Yeah i totally agree about challenging oneself, i’m trying to display a bit more brevity in 2025, but we’ll see how that goes! i’m excited for our year in writing :)
I’m so glad we met, and something about having a deadline/writer community is also the thing that supports my writing practice most!
Viv!! I'm so happy too, and thank you for organizing the meetup with Ethaney and kicking this all off. I really enjoy how fun and exploratory your newsletter is—I always enjoy reading it, it's been exciting to feel like you and others are reviving the lost art of personal style blogging!
Huge congratulations! It's been a pleasure to see you grow as a writer, and can't forget that serendipitous day we met when I was like... are you THE Celine? Continuing to love your ambitious, thoughtful writing and thank you for expanding my vision of what writing could be.
that was such a good day—I really want to write something about how meaningful it is to find people online who match your interests, and then shift that rapport to offline spaces (accidentally or intentionally!)
have so appreciated being able to speak to you and explore ideas together—very grateful for all our conversations and excited for the future ones!!
This was so helpful and inspirational! It's exactly the take on writing online that I needed to hear. Thank you
You have a new fan & supporter 🙋🏻♀️ loved this. It motivated me to get more serious about publishing more often, and I loved the validation around not picking a niche, but more of a way of seeing things.
so glad to hear this! lately I've been thinking of things like having a "voice" or a "niche" as things that are defined retrospectively…it's too much pressure to know these things upfront, and easier to just start writing and see what happens
Congrats!! First piece of yours I've read (first because I've subscribed and there WILL be more).
PS: I only remembered to give a like when you mentioned that people forget to like posts...
thank you so much for subscribing, and I really hope you'll enjoy future posts!
and I'm very similar—I'm always forgetting to like posts, and then a few weeks later I have to scour my browser history to remember that one great thing I read…weeks ago…and can't find…
This was the best thing I read this week! Your writing is so powerful. Thank you for sharing.
this is such high praise—thank you for reading and commenting!!
i really appreciate this essay, as always with the essays you publish. i’ve had a bit of a weird relationship with writing as a practice over the last year because i spend a lot of time researching freelance pitches, many of which don’t result in a commission (but i still hold out hope) and perhaps aren’t suitable for substack, and it’s easier and perhaps more prudent to pursue the research and writing that pays the bills than write an essay for my blog. part of my own obstacle that i can observe and identify has to do with a sheepishness that i think, with time and consistency, i can conquer. thank u for this <3333
and p.s. i saw my grandfather this seek for the first time in a few years, he’s reading proust rn and i thought of u :’)
Casey!! Thank you so much for this comment. One thing I didn't mention here, but was also very much a motivation…last year I was working on a piece I was VERY excited about (for a magazine I really revered in my high school years, too) and then for various events out of my control & the editor's control, we weren't able to publish it.
I still believe in the work that traditional media institutions do, and I still want to write for them—but there is so much that's not in your control! So it's a huge relief to have a space where any ideas, research, stray thoughts &c will ALWAYS have a home. In particular, it's been so nice to not have to peg a post to recent news and just write about whatever is interesting to me now…
Wishing you success and luck with next year's freelance writing—but I do hope that, when you have the time and energy, we'll get to see the bits of stray ideas and research on your newsletter!!
that’s such a bummer—i’m sorry that piece didn’t end up working out! i totally agree with you here, and i’m going to continue to work on that balance, and making it work for me, in 2025. i did a few interviews at a protest in argentina for a piece i was pitching, for example, but when it didn’t get picked up i folded those into my last substack post :) lots of synergies with the different writing projects i have going on. i’m very grateful!
Hey, whatever gets you started! 8,000 subs in one year not coming into it with a huge following already is excellent. Good work.
thank you Michael! I think some of that has to do with platform dynamics too—I think this is the year Substack's growth hit an inflection point (from my perception, at least) and so a lot of small newsletters are seeing a huge amount of growth
Hi Celine:) started reading your newsletter in June this year, and have come to love your writing style, adored and taken your book recommendations seriously, and learnt a lot about various topics ranging from human behaviour, to architecture to video games.Thank you!
Saniya! This is so lovely to hear—so glad you are enjoying the range of topics and trust my book recs. Thank you for reading and commenting 💌
Great post, thank you for putting eloquent words to what I think SO many people feel about the daunting task/ideal of writing (including me). I think my Xmas present to myself will be Atomic Habits.
Thank you!! What's helped me actually get started writing is seeing other people explain their own emotional/psychological fears, and show how they got over them…I'm really happy that I can do the same for others. Really appreciate you reading, and I do hope you enjoy Atomic Habits (super succinct and useful imo)
First time I've come across your work Celine and I've been on Substack for a year as well. I blitzed through this post and you're right, 6,000 words goes fast when you're so interested in what someone has to say!
I loved your point about the most exciting outcome: that you could start a topic and finish writing it. I've noticed my tendency to form ideas and follow through on an essay is much sharper than what it was from a year ago, which drives home the point that writing needs practice. Writing is like a muscle and it needs its reps.
I'm curious, do you tell people about your newsletter now or does it spread simply by word of mouth? I've subscribed and hope to read some more in your archives.
Istiaq, thanks so much for reading! And yes, I feel like the total trust in yourself—knowing you can start and finish what you set out to do—is the greatest gift that a writing practice can offer. And it is very much like a fitness/strength-training routine in that regarding!
I still don't tell people about my newsletter—I'm quite shy about it!—though it is in my personal email signature and Instagram/Twitter profile now (it wasn't for a few months). It's mostly people finding me organically through Substack or through links elsewhere, like this: https://sentiers.media/seeing-like-a-simulation-the-whisperverse-risks-vs-harms-youth-social-media-no-328/
Interesting, I've been debating whether or not to include my stack in my email signature. I write memoir and I get so self-conscious at times!
I love that people cite you in their work or articles/essays. Strong work Celine, keep on!